Anna Halldin-Maule: ‘A Head For Fashion’

Like Tabatha of MTTM, where I spotted this story, I’m a big appreciator of photorealism. The idea of precisely recreating reality in a painting is so perfect to me it just makes my heart ache. Naturally I was blown away by Anna Halldin-Maule’s “A Head For Fashion,” whose theme is women and fashion and that line between love for a well made item and insanity. In a video (which you seriously should check out–as I’m pretty sure Halldin-Malle was born to be a photorealist; seriously, listening to her explain her process is like watching a cheetah run), the artist comments: 

“Women take fashion very seriously. It’s a way of living, a lifestyle. But when you take it too far it  becomes almost comical. And I wanted to show that in the paintings in a humorous way, a little bit of tongue in cheek. But to make it beautifully with the gorgeous bags and the beautiful shoes and the accessories, which I love. The reason I chose the Louis Vuitton bag is partly because it’s such a coveted item. Everyone who sees the bag knows it. But also because of the craftsmanship. It’s a beautifully-made bag. The quality is excellent. All of the stitches, the leather is perfect. It’s something I want to achieve with my paintings as well.”

There are three other paintings in the series with this one the most tame, which is another nice thing about Halldin-Malle, she has a pervyy side to her, too! And then, too, her funny quote about her inspiration, “Inspired by the work of blah, blah, blah, blah….”