This series investigates identity in the chaotic, dirty and neon-tinged world of New York City. As New York’s street are increasingly aggressive and violent, this works acts as a homage to all the women of the Big Apple who feel the need to disguise themselves into the world around them in order to survive daily life.
By blending the soft and fleshy female bodies of her models with body paint into the rigid and phallic skyscrapers that inhabit the city, the work allows the viewer to recognize and question the juxtaposition of the soft lines of the female form against the hard architecture of the world surrounding her. Gone is the romantic "Sex and the City" high heel fantasy, replaced by everyday street shoes.
Each image captures a temporary moment, a reminder of who and what were are, in a constant state of metamorphosis and transformation.
Dodging people, traffic, and even at times, police, Merry uses guerrilla tactics to create live painting performances on the street and documents them with photography. Her hyper-real illusions camouflage subjects into their surroundings in a nearly Op Art style. It reflects the temporal nature of her surroundings in a manner similar to Tibetan sand painters.
Coney Island, 2014.
