Fashion Phantom

'A gathering of ghostly creatures, some serene, some disturbed.. .
A series of Fashion Phantoms beautifully flawed, a grand facade.. .'

On October 27th, 2006, I exhibited my first solo series of artwork at Well and Good CLothing Gallery (www.wellandgood.ca), then called M:One:11 at 561 Queen St. West.
It was an amazing success. The opening party, on Oct 27th, was full of people and I ended up selling three large works, two smaller works, and many postcard prints of the series.
I donated the money I made on print sales to Sheena's Place, a wonderful facility which provides counselling and care for women battling eating disorders. (www.sheenaplace.org)

This show was titled 'Fashion Phantom', where I presented a series of 8 'ghost-like' women who represented the 'ideal beauties' we see everywhere in Fashion Advertising. I drew inspiration for this series from my experience as a Fashion student, at Ryerson University. I wanted to express the negative influences Fashion, as an industry, has on impressionable women in the world.

Using acrylic on canvas, I illustrated six foot tall, bill board sized 'ideal beauties', whimsical and bright, yet depicted in black and white. They stood tall, like billboards, demonstrating the idea that these 'perfect' women we see in the media 'don't actually exist', as they have been so re-touched before print. I was stating that women, in Fashion Advertising, should be recognized as unreal representations of 'ideal beauty'.

My painted Phantoms appear 'perfect' from a distance, but are purposely flawed (eg: layering canvas on canvas, to symbolize cover up) showing my belief that 'ideal beauty' actually lies in every woman's unique imperfections.