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Dear Addicts of Showstudio,

I was born in Belarus and grew up in Vietnam, Prague, San Francisco and New York.

I came to NYC to become a supermodel :) I enjoyed every second of it until I realized that even though modeling opens the doors for me to a gigantic world it didn�t allow me to express my own creativity and sense for beauty. It was so frustrating that I had to be a perfect mannequin, never complain about the choice of clothes or make-up but never suggest or advice anything of my own, since it would be �unprofessional�.

But I found my own revenge on this situation, and a way to let out the frustration, a painfully obsessive hobby. I started sneaking into the most exclusive posh designers� boutiques all over the world and taking pictures of myself wearing the most expensive dresses. I transform the dressing room into a studio or a movie set with the equipment and props that I carry in my bag. It is a scary project that keeps my heart racing to the edge of a hear-attack, because I often get discovered, kicked out or arrested. Even though I really try NOT to get caught!

It�s understandable of a sales person to be shocked when discovering me lying on the floor in a $10.000 dress next to a 6-feet tall stuffed Panda bear or a giant King Kong hand, while the walls of the dressing room are covered with back drops and posters, lights sticking out from the corners and a camera on a tripod pointing at me!

Doing this I become my own photographer, model, art director, make up artist and hair stylist. I can be whoever I desire at that moment � a movie star, a Vamp, a Seductress�., and own those outrageously unaffordable clothes for a few moments, never having to pay for it!

Here is a site (Stern) where you can find a lot of those pix I took. http://www.stern.de/unterhaltung/fotografie/:Elle-Muliarchyk--Kakteen-Gorillatatzen-Umkleide/577210.html

PS - now, a while later after I'd been doing this silly thing, I have done something that I am so excited about and I feel I can be proud of it - it was probably one of the two coolest things that hapenned to me - ever! (besides winning a sports car).

I collaborated with Bella Freud. Basically, I was running around in London at nights with my tripod (got attacked and mugged by a gang of eight doing my first shot and witnessed a robbery of a boutique and had to escape the guys on the motorcycles), taking self portraits wearing Bella's new collection. This time, however this wasn't my self-portrait (only technically). Whith each of the images, I wanted to create the most profound portrait of Bella, what her greatest passions and inspirations are, everything she and her work represents. I wanted to make my interpretation as true and deep as possible.

I became so involved with the project that I decided to continue shooting in New York and even in Nothern California (at the locations where Hitchcock shot many of his movies). It almost became a part of me - I had been working on for about five months now, while Bella was working on her collection. This was the most rewarding and beautiful experience, and images were totally worth getting close to being killed twice - I would do it all over again!

Website: http://www.artreview.com/profile/ElleMuliarchyk

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Last updated 21:29 Fri 03 Nov 2006

COME AS YOU ARE

IN CAMERA: David Bailey

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SLEEP

BAL MASQUÉ

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

GO-SEES

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THE DEVIL HATES GOOD ART

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