Dreamy folkie or doom-metal goth? Party girl or paralyzed wallflower? Yes, yes, formerly and forever, says Massachusetts singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler. Debuting in 2003 with the self-released Ballads Of Living And Dying (a macabre, wintry decree by a 23-year-old ice queen, rife with literary allusions and unambiguous in title only), Nadler found herself eight years later back on her own, her crystalline hymns slightly thawed on 2011’s Marissa Nadler (the first release on her Box Of Cedar imprint) and her skin greatly thickened from a brief courtship (and briefer contractual release) by Kemado Records and offshoot Mexican Summer. Nadler’s sixth album, The Sister, is due May 29 on Box Of Cedar, and she will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all this week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.
Nadler: “Chromium Dumb Belle is the embroidered and appliqued fantasy world of British artist Joanne Burke. Her embroidered hangings and art-to-wear accessories depict her own bizarre fairy tales and odd historical characters in multi-coloured dreamworlds of glowing metallics and faded technicoloured satins. Inspired by old costumes, theatre, eccentrics, and the exaggerated and embellished aspects of history and their gaudy fantasy, decadence and distortions.” – from Chromium Dumb Belle’s website.
I really love the wild imagination that goes into her work. The colors are vibrant and gorgeous. In her work, surrealism, history and fashion all sit together in a lovely bizarre marriage. A lot of the costumes combine with dance and theatre to make a multimedia sensory experience. The video clips of the dance theatre performance Machine Dances show a world where the people become paintings that come to life. Her work comes together in clothing, photographs, dance, theatre and fashion.
Video after the jump.
