Received: Fashion-Focused Mail-Art from Natasha Jabre (Richmond, Virginia, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Natasha Jabre (Richomond, Virginia, USA)

November 22, 2010 - Natasha Jabre's first mail-art sent to me was waiting in my P.O. Box on Saturday. I was thrilled she sent me a pillow piece (above). Experience is proving that it takes some back-and-forth to learn what a friend is doing with their mail-art. My first impression of Natasha's work is that she is exploring fashion photography, ranging from clothing to furniture. Natasha references the sharp-edged realism you can find in some upscale magazines. I think she has a keen eye for selecting powerful images. She creates collages using scissors and paper. I'm not the only person at the IUOMA who thought they were digital; they are meticulously cut and pasted. Natasha creates a unique effect - that runs across everything I've seen - by introducing what I can only think to call at this time surrealist elements, resulting in fairly jarring juxtapositions, subverting the realism of her core images. It makes for a very distinct, recognizable and interesting mail-art style. And the address side:

Here's an IUOMA portfolio grab to give a greater view of what she is doing:

This collage above by Natasha Jabre has attracted some attention at the IUOMA. I assume this is another scissor and paper piece. Fashion expert Jen Staggs pointed out those are fishnet stockings on the right. I thought it was chicken wire or a snow fence.

I thought this one with the hair was neat. Are those icicles? Now do you see why I was thinking about a snow fence? And (below) just to show Natasha's mail-art is not ALL about models, products, and attitude, here's something more in the Animals of Mail-Art category:

I sent Natasha some vispo. She wrote back: "It looks like a stamp design." And I thought, "Yeah, it does look like a stamp design." So now I'm a stamp designer too. Thank you for the mail-art, Natasha Jabre. I hope we will continue to trade.

Favorite girl band: Suzy's Floozies

Mail-art country of the month: Russia

[Natasha Jabre]

I really enjoyed reading your blogs. Thanks for caring so much about everyone’s piece, and taking the time to analyze the style and concept. Jen was right about the fishnet, but if you see chicken wire, then it’s chicken wire! We will most definitely continue to trade!