BEAUTY'S TRANSFORMATION

A very bright light lifted into the upper atmosphere yesterday.

An artist and fashion designer who has probably done more to influence our local art and design culture than any other, has passed away.

Tiffa Novoa, known locally as part of El Circo, was a creator in the true and mythical sense. She designed not just clothing, but the shape of the beings who wore them.

She stood astride the crashing waves of fashion time with a legendary sensibility and prowess.

There is a point in any artist's life, when they must decide to what divine force they will dedicate themselves. Oh, to imagine that moment when Venus first called and Tiffa answered.

There is in the Greek, the concept of "Arete." It roughly translates as "excellence", but more essentially, it is that guiding principle that leads to the fulfillment of life's potential.

Tiffa's was a superior soul, one whose very presence provoked humility in those wise enough to know the difference between the great and the sublime.

How many did she influence and inspire? Look around you at your next gathering, at your next "conference of the birds." Will an endless number suffice? It will have to.

She was not on the cover of Vogue because no one at Vogue had yet developed the eyes to see the "excellence" that Tiffa herself saw. They would have come around eventually, assuming Tiffa was still interested in such campy haute b'ness.

The point for her, I don't think was fame or money. I didn't know her well enough to know for sure, but from all that I have seen and heard and all that I read in her face and in her words, I would guess that the point was transformation - the inevitable transformation of humans into what they might become; given enough light, given enough beauty and given enough love.

The constellations in the sky were as god-like instructors for early man. Their names and powers were born from the stories that people made up and shared around fires.

Such stories were driven by extraordinary beings who came to earth to inspire us and to send us on great and adventurous journeys.

Look up there after tonight and you might catch a glimpse of a newly returned goddess dancing among them; her shoulders encrusted with tiny stars and laced by whispy seams.

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• Jenka's Social Creature Blog