Mermaid tails and prosthetic dresses

Carina Hardy is currently studying Art History with a concentration in Visual Arts and Design at Barnard College, Columbia University. Here a few of her latest projects and musings. For her full portfolio head over to her website.

THE PROSTHETIC DRESS, 2016

The metal prosthetic dress inspired by Victorian era dresses that blend with nature in a weird way. Wearing this dress allows women to pee inconspicuously in public. It begins with a hoop skirt that ended up being a body skirt so when someone’s wears the dress and squats in public to pee, nobody will even know what she is doing. The headpiece is inspired by the fan palm, adding to the camouflage effect. Giant hair is part of the signature of the Victorian era and having the big headpiece creates that effect.

Here it is modeled by legendary model Irina Pantaeva. Irina added one of her pieces from her Peaceful Warrior project- repurposing military canvas into new items such as coats and skirts over the metal hoop.

INFLATABLE MERMAID TAIL – Sculpture I, 2016

I imagined a mermaid stuck, in an urban landscape. Caught between the jaws of a freight elevator, she weeps. I used a combination of sewing and heat sealing pieces of plastic to construct the tail. After installing this seventeen foot long mermaid to fill the entire room of the freight elevator entrance, I decided to move her to a more public space, occupying a main entrance on campus. This massive inflatable art work rendered passersby momentarily stuck in their tracks before having to circumvent it.