'Baldazzling:' When Being Bald is a Work of Art
Philip Levine with a bedazzled head. Courtesy Photo
"If you are bald, embrace your baldness. Make it a superpower," suggests London-based entrepreneur Philip Levine, who began using his head as a canvas four years ago when he started going bald, and chronicles his jazzy looks on his website, Phil Says Head Designs.
"I wanted to shave my head," he remembers, "but I didn't want to just leave it and be that standard guy who walks down the street, so I thought, 'Why not use it as a canvas for my creativity?' Then people can look while I walk."
Since then, Levine has worked with friend and body painter, Kit Sinclair, to create multiple works of head art, including a scene from "The Wizard of Oz", a tsunami wave, eyeballs, Betty Boop and even a head full of sewn-on buttons (see some highlights below).
Levine's latest work is a Swarovski crystal headpiece (pictured, left), which he calls his best design yet -- and may give Jennifer Love Hewitt's vajazzle a run for its money.
It includes 1,000 crystals that are painstakingly placed one by one onto his scalp. For the faint of heart (or head), he offers the same look in a cap. "That means ladies can have it as well," he says. "I have had people with such conditions as alopecia email me because they love it and want to do it themselves. It's the perfect accessory for a lady (after a man on her arm of course!)."
Because most designs only last for a day or two, Levine is always busy creating new looks for his bald head, including 100 designs for a gallery display in May 2011. "I seem to be on the cusp of making it a trend," he says. "I hope to open a salon one day to do 'head styles' rather than 'hair styles'."
Philip Levine with a disco-ball inspired head. Courtesy Photo
If you ask Levine which is better: hair or head art? It's not surprising that he chooses the latter. "Who wouldn't want a beautiful head design like the ones I do?"
Artist, designer, head stylist, entrepreneur or just a man with something to say, you can bet that Levine turns a lot of heads and makes quite a statement when he walks into any room. No doubt, the art is striking, but perhaps, even moreso, he is garnering the attention of so many because he has managed to take something that most people dread -- baldness -- and turn it into something that's celebrated.
"It never ceases to amaze people," says Levine, who is not afraid to try new forms of expression. "Nothing is outrageous in my world."
Would you try head art? Tell us what you think. Then check out one runway model who is also embracing the bald look!
Philip Levine with wave and eye ball head art. Courtesy Photo (2)
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Tags: art on your head, ArtOnYourHead, bald, bald head art, BaldHeadArt, baldness, hair, phil levine, phil says, philip levine, PhilipLevine, PhilLevine, PhilSays
Tags: art on your head, ArtOnYourHead, bald, bald head art, BaldHeadArt, baldness, hair, phil levine, phil says, philip levine, PhilipLevine, PhilLevine, PhilSays
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Flewellyn, 4-07-2010, 4:28PM
This is a real thing in the world?
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