Thorns, camellias, lilacs, yucca leaves and laurel make up the "Camellia Countessa." (Photo courtesy of Nicole Dextras)

Environmental art is usually meant to shock or surprise. It juxtaposes something created with something natural. Occasionally, it’s even unintentional, like the nearly three dozen tractors I saw “grazing” in a Tennessee field a few weeks back. But rarely are eco-installations as beautiful as the flowery, ephemeral clothing made by Vancouver-based artist Nicole Dextras.

For her Weedrobes collection, Dextras uses thorns to piece together flowers, leaves, vines, sticks and buds, shaping them into waistcoats, ball gowns and jewelry. She weaves together invasive wild rose with native dogwood to make a bustier suitable for the most non-Material Girl. Cabbage even looks fashionable when it’s molded into a pair of elflike shoes. The clothing, which she photographs and exhibits, is meant to confront the idea of disposable goods.

Dextras sources the plants from her own yard, neighbors’ cuttings and abandoned lots. She’s also used leaves and flowers from Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden and hopes to incorporate clippings thrown out by florist shops. She says that finding so much expendable greenery “requires a certain amount of creativity when living in an urban environment.”

According to Inhabitat, Dextras’ art is on display at Albuquerque’s Richard Levy Gallery. HowStuffWorks, could a yucca dress or invasive flower bud necklace be a nice investment for your green editor’s head shot? I certainly find it preferable to this dress made of meat.

Yucca leaves, flowers and thorns make up this party dress. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Dextras)

Laurel leaves, rosehips and assorted leaves and thorns make for a jaunty waistcoat. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Dextras)

More environmental art:
Bah, Bah LED Sheep
The “Ghost Forest” of Trafalgar Square
The Tree Museum: Because in the Bronx, Trees Talk

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