At the Level_13: Cheat Codes exhibition, I created a hand painted custom pair of high heels with Pacman on them.
These shoes started out as a crummy well worn pair of fake-cork shoes from Goodwill. And after about 10 hours of work, these shoes are now a high fashion work of art.
The shoes had a few coats of gesso and white acrylic paint to stiffen the soft black canvas of the shoes. This also made the soft fake cork harden up and smooth out a bit. I then covered the main body of the shoe in a vibrant royal blue, and painted the heel and shoe sole in a bright Pacman yellow.
While I had plans to include a lot more imagery and themes into the shoes, I stopped after I painted a simple design on the back of the heel. It features a jeweled heart between Mr and Mrs. Pacman.
I then mimicked the consecutive dots that Pacman eats as he travels through the game by edging the shoe in a red bead of rhinestones. I also added a cute bow and a white Pacman dot button on the top.
I showed up to the exhibition opening wearing these shoes, and within 5 minutes of walking in the door, I had people asking to take pictures. The best part was surprising people with the custom painted Pacman game map I created in the underside of the heel. The white dots were replaced with rhinestones too!
If you already have not made your way over to City Pages, they have a great slideshow of the opening. There you can see a few shots of my heels as well as some of my other work that was in the show! Thanks City Pages and thank you AE for nominating me as the Featured Artist!
