Who do I see in the mirror: myself, or only the dress?
Fashion photographs are made to make us buy. We buy a garment, put it on and look in the mirror. Do we still see ourselves, or only the new piece? That is the question I paint. My sources are fashion photographs, inspired by Oliviero Toscani’s pictures for Benetton.
1The figure becomes line
From the photograph I take only the outlines of the people: black lines, flat and faceless, as in a Russian icon.
2The pattern is the garment
Over the black lines I lay a coloured pattern. This pattern is the garment.
3The mirror keeps the pattern
On a panel of its own I mirror only the pattern. The person is lost; the mirror shows nothing but the product.
4The golden background
The background is golden, painted in acrylic gold, sometimes silver: the heaven of the icons and the sheen of the mirror. I call these pictures narcissistic ornaments.
Shown with: Dress Code Blue I, Diptych, each 120 × 80 cm · More on my approach
