Seamstress under Christian Dior, fashion designer, and boutique owner who first brought the “bikini” to the Virgin Islands — the past 70 years have been a whirlwind for Monique Purguy and her upcoming art exhibit at the sevenminusseven gallery on Friday from 5-10 p.m. will put it all on display.
How? What’s interesting about Purguy is that over the decades, she hasn’t thrown anything away, which means the bits and pieces of her life have been incorporated into her work, showing the journey.
About the Artist
A seamstress by trade, Purguy learned her craft in Paris at the age of 16, under the tutelage of designer Christian Dior. For her, this was the beginning of a lifetime of creating, which took root in the territory after she answered a “help wanted” ad in 1955 to make clothes in the workrooms of St. Thomas.
She came by boat and, seven days later, landed at the docks on St. Thomas. Purguy met her husband here and was married in 1959. She opened her own store, Monique de Paris, in Palm Passage, which was in business from 1958 to 1972. She had her own fashion line with her own printed fabrics. She is also credited with introducing the bikini to the Virgin Islands in the late ’50’s. In 1964, she started her painting practice and has been creating visual art ever since.
She continued to make clothes and handbags and doll clothes — always one-of-a-kind pieces. She served on the board of the St. Thomas Art Council in the 1970s and was also the costumer in residence at the University of the Virgin Islands Theater.
About the Exhibit
Embarking on a unique creative endeavor, Purguy most recently turned her attention to the overlooked dried seed pods in her yard and transformed them into a stunning set of art pieces. What began as a personal project has morphed into the “Palm Seed Pod” series, featuring intricate decorations made from objects in her collection. As she began to incorporate themes and tree branches, one series of pods featured the seasons, one tree the biblical journey of Adam and Eve, and one with buttons and scissors indicative of her work as a seamstress.
The seed pods are highlighted in Friday’s exhibit to celebrate a life of creativity, including her favorite, a smaller branch set adorned with 600 individual pearls, serving as both a striking example of the artist’s talent and dedication to her craft while showing the harmonious fusion of nature’s beauty and human creativity.
“I love to tell stories,” Purguy, now 92, said of her work. “When I look at something, I immediately think of the story I can tell. I also never throw anything away, so being able to put these pieces of my life together in a way that tells the story is very exciting,” she said.
