Mom Power

One day left... got that Mother's Day gift wrapped and ready?

Here's a cool gift option, if you're still shopping: Glen Ridge-based artist Tiffany Ludwig teamed up with Pittsburgh-based artist Renee Piechocki to create "Trappings," a multimedia project asking more than 500 women and girls across the country a simple but loaded question: "What do you wear that makes you feel powerful?"

Some of the answers...

... were classics: power suits and sex-bomb dresses, leather jackets and killer boots. But many were surprisingly thought-provoking, and a few were downright mindblowing (blue face paint, anyone?). It's stunning to see how honest women are willing to be about their lives.

Stephanie Rivera, of Santa Fe, N.M., spoke bluntly about the horrors she sees as a police officer. "When I go home," she said, "I want to look like a girl." Elizabeth Garlington, of Nashville, Tenn., described the black dress and pearls she wore to a family party that, like so many previous parties, her husband refused to attend. "I put the pearls on, and I looked at myself, and I was really, really alone," she said. "And for the first time in four years of that marriage I thought, 'It's OK to be alone.' " She divorced her husband 60 days later.

Ludwig and Piechocki compiled photos and interviews with the women into book form -- perfect for leafing through on Mother's Day with the women in the family or giving to mom to celebrate her own power. Could be interesting to ask the "Trappings" question around your house this weekend and see what answers arise.

The artists also archived the whole project in photo, text and video form to create a compelling website, and there are several permanent and traveling art installations around the country that feature the women of "Trappings." They've generated lots of well-deserved buzz in the process.

So tell us, Baristavillians: What do you wear that makes you feel powerful?