"I Feel Pretty"

Lily Pichon Flannery

“I Feel Pretty” is an autobiographical series of self portraits exploring my relationship between fashion and emotion. In it, I use fashion illustration to celebrate fashion’s ability to convey inner emotions without words and the power the clothes you wear can have on your mood. The exhibition consists of eight artworks. Two artworks for each of the four moods. These four moods are representative of four aspects of my personality in which I use fashion to convey during everyday life. The smaller illustration on the left depicts the full outfit and the enlarged zoomed-in portrait of the face focusses on the emotions I feel when wearing the garments. The exhibition title refers to the conversation on the conventional beauty standards pressured onto women by mainstream media and the fashion industry. I convey, through the series, my belief that beauty is subjective and unique to every individual through showing what I wear to make me feel beautiful in myself and encourage others to dress for themselves and no one else!

Exhibition Proposal

I propose this exhibition to take place in a space in The House of Illustration, a gallery known for celebrating fashion illustration. The floor and walls are painted a powder pink, a colour connected with women and feminity and has a history of being overlooked and underappreciated due to these connotations. Along with the pink furnishings, I am embracing the colour and therefore celebrating feminity and creating a welcoming and fun atmosphere for the illustrations to live in. The centre sofa seating area and the tassled lamp are pink velvet with patterns from the illustrations integrated into the fabric. I find that fashion illustration translates effectively into interior design and use these homely furnishings to make the gallery space feel like the interior of a walk-in wardrobe. By doing this, I capture the action of me trying on different outfits in my wardrobe. The ceiling is mirrored as well as the the exhibition introduction. As the viewer reads, they look at themselves and consider their own relationship with their appearance.

Online Exhibition

As I am unable to hold an exhibition in person, I have created an online version. This way the viewer is able to move through and discover the work like they would when walking through an exhibition space.