In the early 1990s, I began my creative career as stylist in San Francisco, and then for FAD Magazine in Paris. Eventually, I came home to the United States. and became a historical cabaret dancer for the Goethe Institute of San Francisco . I primarily portrayed a then-infamous 1920s Weimar dancer named Anita Berber. These series of productions were choreographed by illustrious Marta Graham protégé and U.C. Berkley professor, Marni Wood, and directed by Voluptuous Panic author, Mel Gordan. Simultaneously, I was a part-time production designer, vintage clothing buyer , published writer, and fetish and pin-up model (United States and Germany). All my trades and interests went hand in glove.
After a few years in New York City working on Madison Avenue, I relocated to the American south. At last there was much needed working space!
I painted retro-pop-inspired large scale mixed media works on canvas. My clients included the Austin, Texas top designer, Joel Mozersky, upscale restaurants and boutique hotels. My work was shown in Texas, New Orleans, and New York.
In 2007, I ventured into the medium of photography in order to combine the darker vintage cabaret aesthetic in which I was immersed during my performance years with the techniques learned as a painter and as a stylist. I continue to mix media : paper, wood and paint, textiles etc. I hand-make and install costumes and props: bees, pastry ruffle couture, muslin moths, ice cream, block print birds, water color wheels, propellers, mythical body parts, and so on. I view my images as frozen poetic vignettes, and love to create personal detail and symbolism within my concepts.
What drives me is a need to communicate with the world at large through imagery and to work with my hands. My desire is also to create an intimate body of work from which my young son can someday be inspired, share, and ultimately better know his mother.
You can find my photography in internationally published magazines, beautiful blogs, Gallery Lombardi in Austin ,Texas and elsewhere. Current and future events will be listed on the PRESS page.
Darla Teagarden ...
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