He Fa on the Mint-Green Printmaker in Bell-Bottoms

A cropped carmine top clings to shoulders and arms, and purple trousers stay narrow at the hips and thighs before suddenly flaring at the knees into two enormous lampshades. Mint-green hands and face sit within this contrast between top and bottom, like someone excessively serious about arranging a center of gravity. The lowest parts of the body have received the most space to spread. This distribution shifts the question of freedom from head and shoulders to the ground. Looking only at the upper body, I seem able to turn lightly; imagining a step, however, means the two great trouser hems must negotiate their positions again. The image does not demonstrate movement, and I cannot declare on its behalf that walking poses no difficulty. Instead, I am willing to use the actual route of the next step to test whether this expansion works.

White space remains between the trouser legs, and the tops of the lemon-yellow shoes are not completely covered. These intervals deserve more maintenance than expansion itself. They leave each foot its own route to the ground and preserve separation for different movements. If the gap were filled for the sake of a grander outline, visual completeness would begin to conflict with bodily use.

Ease of movement is not clothing's only aim. During a brief pause, exaggerated hems can turn the usually overlooked knee into a clear point of transition. Restriction can also produce new postures. The condition is that restrictions can be recognized and chosen, and released when one needs to leave the state of display, rather than making the body serve a successful frontal effect forever.

I place the yellow shoes a little apart, so expansion still happens around each foot. If the next step requires narrowing, let the fabric temporarily lose its perfect lampshade shape. Real room to maneuver should be redistributable with movement. If freedom looks sufficient only when I stand still, these beautiful hems still have an unfinished stretch of road.