| By Veronica Wong Diffa
ANDREA BERGART
She shoots and she scores… with her latest basketball bag Collection.
Andrea Bergart has driven her way up to success as an inspirational artist and designer. With her latest creations of basketball bags, made with original vibrant prints and colours, Bergart has seamlessly integrated sport and high fashion into everyday use.
Fashion and sport are not new to the common eye; for some we’re too familiar with this combination, using our Adidas leggings or Air Jordan’s as both gym wear and fashionable loungewear. But Andrea Bergart has twisted this idea, transforming a simple sporty product into functional fashion – so why turn a perfectly practical item into an equally useful handbag accessory?
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To Bergart art has been, and always will be, second nature – “I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember - paintings, jewellery, clothing!” However, designing bags and accessories has been her past years’ new adventure – “I like learning new things.” Having had the opportunity to assist American abstract artist, Chris Martin, in 2016 with his design collaboration with Dior, Bergart was able to appreciate the “level of craftsmanship and detail which set the bar high for my own design work.” This work, as well as finding open-minded creative artists in New York City, gave Bergart the inspiration to create her own unique collection of Basketball Bags – “I grew up playing sports and creating artwork; I identified as both an artist and an athlete but they felt very separate to me growing up. I didn’t start combining both of these interests until I moved to New York City when I found other like-minded creative athletes and started playing basketball with @downtowngirlsbball.”
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Bergart’s vision was to create a feeling of empowerment within her everyday life, an emotion she felt when she carried a basketball to and from her games with @downtowngirlsbball – “I felt… strong when I carried it in the rain and the streets of New York. The idea of a handbag made from a ball seemed fun and useful, but most of all I knew I wanted one!” Thinking of her own teammates in mind, Bergart was able to approach this new design with a plethora of knowledge and research as “my teammates [are] my ideal person to carry my bags. I wanted to create a beautifully designed and refined bag that is also fused with a sense of power and fierceness. I feel this type of woman hasn’t been given enough attention in the fashion industry and it’s time someone makes what they want!”
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Bergart’s love for sports has left her well accustomed to the negative stigma of female basketball players – an issue that is quite commonly seen on Instagram and other socials when a sports agency posts about the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) or female basketball players. “It’s really disheartening [and] I try to stay positive. The WNBA shouldn’t be compared to the NBA. It is its own style of play and game,” but with a little education and awareness, Bergart believes that society can correct this stigma. Her collection of self-made basketball bags is Bergart’s own way of expressing her appreciation for female athletes, encouraging their play by enhancing their confidence and motivation to thrive. “I love mixing sports with high fashion and showing that you can be a fierce athlete as well as stylish. Inspirational female athletes have had to overcome so much adversity and have so much discipline in their field. I admire their strength and focus and hope to apply that energy into my own studio practice.”
Video Credits: Andrea Bergart Studios and Maddy Talias
Integrated seamlessly within Bergart’s stylish designs is her loving relationship with Ghana, where “after graduate school, I was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to continue my research of the West African bead trade and textile industries.” Bergart’s paintings are where her unique mix of basketball and Ghanaian textures and patterns are most prominently seen - “I’m attracted to stylized flat motifs, bright colors, and bold designs found in African batiks, printed and woven fabrics and beads. I love the clashing of these patterns and vibrations found in West Africa markets.” It is without a doubt that Bergart’s fluidity is emanated throughout her canvas paintings, amalgamating rich contrasting colours through patterned batiks of basketballs and various paint strokes to create a desired layered effect.
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Needless to say, it’s not the first time she has done the unexpected. In 2014, Bergart painted grimy and dusty cement trucks and transformed them into the likes of Goofy and various graphic prints inspired by Ghana. It’s Bergart’s alternative approach to problem-solving and creative thinking that has helped spark her sense of whimsy and innovative ideas – “I went to a progressive Elementary school where art was integrated into every subject we studied. We had classes called ‘Sloyd’ which is a handcraft-based approach to education - woodworking, mould-making, and other sculpture techniques were integrated into our everyday activities. This type of thinking, with your hands, and openness to diverse influences have helped me develop my designs.”
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Bergart’s work is a manifestation of an “experience of what both artists and athletes call ‘being in the flow’” which combines a mix of mental and physical attributes towards her work – “Trust your decision making and stay open to intuitive play. I think a lot about muscle memory and repetitive movements in both sports and art-making. I try and think about how many times I’ve stepped through a lay-up similarly to how I make gestures in painting. Where painting departs from sports, for me, is that I want the brush to lead me to an unknown place – someplace where rules are not relevant.”
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Andrea’s creative visions don’t stop on canvas, Bergart shares that she will have bootleg WNBA silk-screen t-shirts, and solar printed shirts and trousers coming this summer. Most exhilarating of all, Bergart will be painting a basketball court this Autumn with My Home Court and PC Galleries. Bergart’s interests, passions and hobbies are forever threaded within every art piece, intertwining her love for sports, art design and, instinctive creative nature – she shoots and she scores.