2007 winner Charlotte Kruk - Cupertino Courier
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Wrapped Up
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Local artist fashions
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ABOUT US
'sweet' clothing creations
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By Cody Kraatz
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Event type:
Philosophy
With their bright colors,
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fashionable cuts and
History
City:
recognizable packaging, it's
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easy to assume that
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Charlotte Kruk's handmade
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candy wrapper clothes are
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
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sweet. But, instead of empty
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Charlotte Kruk, an art teacher at Lynbrook
High School, also coaches the school's junior
calories, her outfits are
varsity field hockey team.
packed with personal
statements.
"I'm coming from a lot of different perspectives," says Kruk, who was recently
named Cupertino's "Distinguished Artist of the Year."
Each year the Cupertino Fine Arts Commission gives a local, Cupertino-
involved artist a non-monetary award that recognizes their talent as well as
additional work within the greater community.
"We produce a lot of unnecessary waste that then just winds up in the trash.
So I think there is a real interesting commentary on how we sort of package
ourselves with clothing and how we sometimes don't see beyond the plastic
layers of people,'' says Kruk.
In addition to the packaging metaphor, Kruk says her work questions how
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people spend their money on such things as accessories for dogs versus the
Iraq war, the media's fascination with celebrities and society's focus on a
person's weight.
"I know my work doesn't show all of that, but those are some of the things I
think about as far as how we are as a society, it's all kind of backwards," she
says.
Kruk first started making her candy creations in the late '90s while she was a
fine arts undergraduate student at San Jose State University. Frustrated by
having to spend copious amounts of money on new materials for each
course she enrolled in, Kruk started to look at creative ways to avoid it.
"I was screen printing on cloth diapers, picking up brown bags as opposed to
going out and getting the good stuff," she says.
Soon she discovered her ultimate material: the waste from her candy-loving
sweet tooth.
"During a camping trip I was sitting there eating a whole bunch of Now and
Laters, and there wasn't a trash can that was readily available, so I had them
all there in front of me and I thought, 'What if I sew these all together and
make a textile?' "
Kruk, who comes from a long line of talented seamstresses, avoided learning
how to sew when she was growing up. Because her father died when she
was a child, Kruk says she was attracted to more masculine-type art forms
like metalsmithing. But after her camping trip, Kruk knew it was time to learn
her mother's trade.
"I started out by taking things apart," she says. "I would find a dress at a thrift
store that I liked and take it apart and then use it as my pattern."
Kruk, who eats almost all of the candy herself, has only two fillings and is a
healthy weight. What's more interesting is how her unique blend of
indulgence and meticulous saving was developed.
"Because my father passed away and my mom needed to work, my sister
and I were raised by my two sets of grandparents," says Kruk, who grew up
in Campbell.
"So I have two completely different philosophies on life that are coming
together and becoming my own."
On her mother's side, it was tradition to open every holiday/birthday present
with great care.
"You wouldn't rip it because we would recycle the paper year after year,"
says Kruk.
But when the two Kruk girls would visit their paternal grandparents, life was a
bit different.
Each weekend, when her grandmother picked the girls up, they always
stopped at a grocery store where they could buy their favorite candy.
Following dinner, while her grandparents played Yahtzee, Kruk and her sister
would stay up late eating candy and watching Fantasy Island and The Love
Boat.
"Every weekend we would do the same thing, and then my mom would have
to retrain us all over because we would come home as these torture-
nightmare-candy-kids," laughs Kruk, who admits that if she could, even
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today, she'd love to live off candy and ice cream.
Following Kruk's graduation from SJSU, she continued to create candy
couture while working as a waitress.
It was her mother, once again, who stepped in and encouraged her to pursue
a more stable career to supplement her artistic passion. Despite disliking the
teaching credential program because of its lack of art focus, Kruk said that
from the second she got into the classroom she completely dug it.
"The great thing about teaching art is you have the flexibility of teaching what
you want because there aren't standardized tests at the end," she says.
Kruk is in her 10th year of teaching, all of them at Lynbrook High School.
"Continuous improvement is my goal as a teacher," she says.
The scheduled student breaks and early hours also mean that Kruk is still
able to dedicate a significant amount of time to her own artwork.
"It would be great if I were rich," she says. "I'd love for all my time to be
studio time, but that's not feasible where I live, and I want to live here
forever." Kruk and her husband, Dave Kempken, live in Willow Glen.
Close to five years after Kruk started teaching and displaying her pieces in
galleries across the Bay Area, she received a cease and desist letter in 2001
from Mars, Inc.--the confectionery conglomerate behind Skittles, M&Ms and
Twix.
The letter cited Kruk's use of their wrappers as trademark and copyright
infringement and unfair competition. Mars, Inc. also wanted her to turn over
three pieces for destruction: the Snickers Knickers, the Miss Chocolate Fun
Size Dress and the Chewy Fruit Twin Dress made out of Starburst wrappers.
"It was super scary for me," says Kruk, who sought legal advice from the
California Lawyers for the Arts.
When she found it would cost more than $5,000 to pursue a court battle, she
decided she and her artwork would lay low for a while.
"I have a statement, and I feel justified in that I have purchased every single
one of these packages and I am wearing the calories on my hips and I
should be entitled to my trash, but I was really scared and I really don't have
$5,000 to be messing around with," she says.
Kruk states on her website that she has no affiliation with the trademark
holders.
During the six or so years following the letter, Kruk didn't really create much
and refused to show the three pieces when asked by galleries. Luckily, Mars,
Inc. decided not to pursue the case much further.
As the years passed, Kruk started to research ways to respond to the letter.
"I've tried to really do my homework on satire versus parody and what is fair
use as far as artists are concerned," says Kruk.
Some of the famous examples she is looking at include Andy Warhol and his
use of Campbell Soup cans. Kruk also started working on a visual response
piece in the form of an extravagant M & M matador suit.
"I really researched costumes and historical traditions of dress," she says.
"After looking at all the different ones I just really came to terms with the
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matador, because it is such a ballsy way to approach a situation; it's like,
'Here it is, come and get it.' "
The highly embellished matador suit is a blend of browns (plain M&M
packaging) and golds (peanut M&M packaging) and has an intricate self-
portrait on the back. It has taken Kruk close to four years to complete. Today
she is putting the final touches on the large red "muleta," the cape used to
lure the bulls.
"Documenting the suit is a huge goal," says Kruk, who plans to wear the
outfit complete with authentic matador tights from Spain for the photos. "It will
be a sense of closure."
In addition to finishing the matador suit, teaching and coaching field hockey
this fall, Kruk is busy starting a Tiffany & Co. dress, three candy capes, as
well as finishing a commissioned Godiva chocolate jacket for San Francisco
49ers tight end Vernon Davis.
"It has been a blessing and a curse at the same time working for someone so
fabulous," says Kruk.
Davis first saw Kruk's work at Laura Taylor Moore's Campbell Showroom
and asked for a hand-made jacket he could wear.
"It's not my favorite way to work because I think there is such a personal
level that is grounded in my work, but I know it's also important for me to get
my work out there and to have it in places like Vernon's house."
Some of Kruk's current work can be seen at the Campbell Showroom in
downtown Campbell, Triton Museum of Art gift shop in Santa Clara, and
Kaleid Gallery in San Jose, as well as on her website at www.kruktart.com.
"I've never seen anything like what she does with candy wrappers, and I
think that's what won her the commission's vote," says Robert Harrison,
chairman of the Cupertino Fine Arts Commission.
"She's a great artist, but she also really gives back to the community through
teaching and coaching and that also scored big."
For more information on how to nominate both visual and performing artists
for the 2008 Cupertino Distinguished Artist of the year call 408.777.3217 or
visit
www.cupertion.org/city_government/commissions/fine_arts_commission.
Silicon Valley Community Newspapers | 1095 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126 | Phone: 408.200.1000 | Fax: 408.200.1011 Copyright
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