What happens when you mix ceramic art and fashion design from the creative mind of Oklahoma artist Nicole Moan? You get wearable art that has made its way to red carpet events and magazine photo shoots across the nation.
The latest episode of Gallery America premieres at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 3 on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA).
Moan, an artist who worked with ceramic tile, had drawn corsets since childhood. She began to sew fabric corsets, but felt confined by the design limits and lack of structure the fabric afforded. That’s when she hit upon a new concept, ceramic corsets!
“I started doing this 20 years ago,” said Moan. “The first ceramic corsets I made were barbaric and rough.”
But, two decades makes good practice, and today, her corsets are sought-after by brides, fashion photographers and pop music stars. Along with many private clients, Moan has made a ceramic corset for rapper Nicki Minaj and gifted another to singer Lady Gaga.
It normally takes Moan about a week to make one corset, depending on the complexity of the design. One of the most over-the-top corsets was a $2,500 piece containing 24k gold and Swarovski crystals. Recently, Moans has begun to branch out into plus-size pieces.
“My favorite motto is, ‘push the limits,’” said Moan. “If someone else has done it, then I don’t want to.”
“This episode was a lot of fun to produce,” said Gallery America host Susan Cadot. “Nicole makes these edgy, sexy, beautiful pieces and she’s also so kind and humble to talk to. It’s a pleasure to share who she is and her art with Oklahoma.”
Gallery America is OETAs Emmy award-winning arts and culture series. Gallery America captures the best Oklahoma has to offer in all forms of art, including dance, sculpture, education, music, painting, photography and performances.
OETA provides essential educational content and services that inform, inspire and connect Oklahomans to ideas and information that enrich our quality of life. We do this by consistently engaging Oklahomans with educational and public television programming, providing educational training and curriculum, outreach initiatives and online features that collectively encourage lifelong learning. For more information about education curriculum and programs, local productions, digital television, community resources and show schedules explore OETA.tv or visit us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.