October 9, 2007

Well Hung

Liz Tran Dress Paintings

Signs you’re suffering from shopping overload:
a) You can’t decide whether to name your firstborn Marni or Chloé.
b) You’re more familiar with that redheaded Shopbop model’s face than your mother’s.
c) Your closet is overtaking your apartment (like black mold).

Sounds like somebody needs a break from the fashion fast lane. Here’s a worthy detour: local artist Liz Tran’s sartorially inspired wood block paintings.

Developed for the Whitney Museum’s Art-o-Mat vending machine project, the acrylic, ink, Japanese paper, and beeswax pieces started out as riffs on Tran’s vintage dress collection. Each depicts a different dress — ’50s housedress, ’70s sunner — dangling from a clothesline. 

See? There’s no need to choose between having the closet of a clotheshorse and the heart of an artist.

You can be all of the above.

Available at Maison Luxe, 1123 First Avenue (206-405-2828); online at thedailydress.blogspot.com.