If you’re foxy and you know it, clap your hands! Show the world you love your hot/ curvy/ flat/ bumpy/ strong/ womanly/ boyish body by making a purse in your own image. Too narcissistic for you? Make it in the image of your Kid, Boyf, BFF, or Pup.. whatevers clevs.
This great idea comes from provocateuse and artiste Hally McGehean, labeled the “Literary Lady Gaga.” Known for her Dirty Dirty Dress that she modeled herself in Playgirl Magazine, her Obama Bag that was personally endorsed by the President, her year-long self-portrait subscription in which she took and sent a photograph of herself every day to paying voyeurs. McGehean often cites her youth in the late 70s and early 80s Times Square as informing her aesthetic. “Theatrical, Mid-Town, Liza Minelli, Gay, New York City was half fishbowl, half hall of mirrors in 1980,” McGehean waxes. “Everything was either transparent or reflective. I was impressionable and in the center of it. It is therefore no wonder I’m an exhibitionist who works in shiny plastic and my own image.”
Though McGehean’s prurient tendencies may recall the color of a pop star, and though her energy endows her with a similar pull, the actress-cum-artist’s pieces are clearly tempered by serious thought and her work is tethered by a clear intellectual discipline. She has the papers to prove it: McGehean has a degree in philosophy from Columbia University and studied Shakespeare at the British American Drama Academy at Balliol College, Oxford. “I wear panties in public,” she says, “but they are smarty-panties.”
Here she shares how to DIY her Self-Portrait Purse;
1. Take photo of yourself, or pre-existing favorite image
2. Print photo, 90 times
4. Laminate cut outs of self
5. Punch a hole in each
6. Cut out laminated self
7. Attach to clear vinyl with metal jump ring
8. Repeat steps 2 through 6 – 90 times
9. Sew it all up
10. Add some Lucite handles
Too lazy? Order a custom bag or a ready-made one from Belleslettre here.
In NYC? Go to Hally’s show at The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition Exhibition, August 17-September 7 at the Agora Gallery, 530 W. 25th St, NYC. Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-6pm.
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 19, 6:00pm-8:00pm