Paraparaumu artist takes second place at World of Wearable Art Bizarre Bra category

Rebecca Bond won second place in WOW's Bizarre Bra category for her entry, Eyes Up Here. Photo / David Haxton

Rebecca Bond has entered the World of Wearable Art (WOW) several times and, despite getting through to the finals five of those times, she had never placed before. That is, until now.

The WOW competition has been showcasing New Zealanders’ creations for nearly four decades and, with more than 60,000 people attending, it’s no small event.

Bond, from Paraparaumu, entered her favourite category, Bizarre Bra, this year and placed second with her design, which she named Eyes Up Here.

Her inspiration was the age-old message of looking at who people are on the inside rather than judging what’s on the outside.

When crafting the piece, she used a reflective digital board (the same material from which road signs are made) and a bearing to make the design spin around for that extra wow factor.

Rebecca Bond's Eyes Up Here piece on stage. Photo / Stephen A'Court

And to tie into the bra’s name, she used googly eyes, but “I didn’t think anyone would actually see them”.

What a lot of people might not know is how long the lead-up to the event takes.

The first step is coming up with an idea – Bond had countless ideas in her head but narrowing them down to one was tough and time-consuming.

Making the bra took less time and she was able to finish pretty quickly.

“It took more thinking about than actually making it.”

Rebecca Bond entered the Bizarre Bra category. Photo / Andi Crown

After that was the nerve-racking process of posting the bra to WOW in Nelson early this year and hoping it didn’t get lost in the mail.

Then all the entries went through an initial selection process and three rounds of judging, which took place over the following few months.

Bond was overseas when she got the email letting her know she had made it to the finals. The first thing she did when she heard the news was call her father.

He was dealing with some health complications, so “it was nice to be able to have some good news, especially with something he had so much involvement with”.

The first show was held last month in Wellington. Bond came back from her trip early to attend, so she went with her parents, James and Anne Bond, and her children Ruby and Corey.

“Seeing it live with models just brings another level to it.”

That’s when she found out she won second place, and a $3000 cash prize.

She was thrilled with the results and said the WOW competition was great because it gave her a chance to be creative in a different way than usual and to think outside the box.

“There’s no boundaries on it, I just love it.”

Bond, who is also a silversmith, was first introduced to art by her parents.

Her mother worked in a primary school, so the two spent the school holidays doing art together, and eventually Bond ended up studying art at The Learning Connexion in Taita.

Now she is the creative director for the Kāpiti Art Studio and will be featured in the Kāpiti Coast Art Trail for her silversmithing next month.