“Portrait of a Lady” by Tim Walker for Love Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016

Anna Cleveland, Eva Herzigova, Julie Hoomans, Kiki Willems, Lexi Boling & Molly Constable plays at poetic extremes in “Portrait of a Lady” by Tim Walker for Love Magazine, S/S 2016. Emptiness never looked so full with the weight of over-burdened (faux) bosoms bouncing around. Walker pays tribute to his personal hero, by delivering an homage of both honor and distinction. An artist often at odds with the modern world, John Currin’s captivating visions are completely unbound. This story merges mental perceptions by opening our minds to the power of visual poetry. A daring portrayal of lost souls found, this takes us to a place where up is down and truly all around. Stylist, Katie Grand, does it again with a compelling take on this freak show of high fashion. Wrong never looked so right with sweaters able to stretch to infinite and beyond. Grand doesn’t try to alter, downplay, hide or dismiss, rather she’s faces the conceptual monster head on. Her ability to keep this story from being all about the breast is, and of itself, a great accomplishment. Eva astounds with a pink sweater, so stretched her boobs are bustin’ to break out, or a see-thru, black latex dress with buttons ready to burst. The scenic backdrop is made to look like sand on a beach, as she leisurely lays back on an outdoor lawn chair. Carmen Miranda comes to life with the famous fruit tray worn in artful effigy. Molly dons a black bra with fur wrapped around her middle, as a pearl necklace falls down the front of her chest. In one of the most exciting images of the story, a burgeoning basket bursts out the top, Inspired by the Divine Miss M.

Lexi lets her lunacy out, as she stands in bright, pink Chanel holding both a demented smile and open scissors. Proper application is all but erased, as things go crazy in the theatre of the face. Beauty basks in the glory of strange as Miranda Joyce celebrates the art of modern makeup. Colors collide in playful reverie with child like cosmetics crashing into the skin. Sky blue screams over the lids as faux lashes set off this psycho-scene. Eva’s intoxicating stare brings us to bare as yellow shadow passes up and over the brows. High peach cheeks appear as if they’ve been altered, with a kind of crazed smiling scar that encircles the area below. Kiki looks straight to the camera, licking her flower pin in heightened sensuality. Julie’s rosy features lure us in with haute pink touching every inch of the skin. A pig smoking a cigar sits propped up on a chair staring intently, as Kiki leans back ready for inspection. Lexi balances a bread-stick covered in pearls and topped with a banana batch artfully overhead, while a book teeters on one shoulder as a black crow sits peacefully on one leg. Shon uses each picture to propose a sense of distorted passion, with chaotic coiffure that realizes eras both past and projected. Wigs are not unique to any one decade, rather, they’re known for getting lost in time. Murder, mayhem and twisted infidelities… All but doth seem lost in a dream is wild and crazy in the land of the extreme. Shot like a modern-day Rembrandt, Walker uses Anna’s alluring lines to embrace our fair senses, in a picture that penetrates the soul. Distorted imagery plays with the mind – from real breasts to artificially augmented – this story salivates with the idea of more.

Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_1 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_14 (1)Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_2 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_2 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_7 (1)Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_4 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_5 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_5 (2) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_6 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_6 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_8Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_8 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_9 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_10 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_10 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_11 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_11 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_12 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_12 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_13 Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_7Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_15 (1) Love_Fall_Winter_2016-2017_Portrait_of_a_Lady_3