This was one of the three self portraits I shot one night in the studio when I invited a few friends for drinks and a creative studio session. The idea was to treat the shoot spontaneously and with an open mind to ideas.
My idea for this image was to create a wreath, which I did by hand, from stolen fynbos picked off Lions Head and connected over wire with florists tape. I used olive oil (I think) on my hands and arms before delicately applying gold leaf to myself with the help of one of the other girls. I bought the giant knickers ages ago at some super random shop at Access Park in Kenilworth for my collection. The pose was exactly what I had had in mind, don’t ask why, it was just one of those instinctive ideas.
I was going to crop the image to have a similar composition to many of the other self portraits in the series but I liked the tiny funny detail of my toes crossed over each other so I left it as a full length portrait.
