Artist Many Years a Mystery.

I had wanted to photograph this East Village-based artist for many years. Now that I carry my camera as a tourist would, the opportunity arrived one day as I tried a new and great coffee shop on my old street (East 7th).

I think she creates the tire sculptures that were very well received in the 1990s. She employs heavy fabrics to wrap her head high and dramatically, unlike anyone else in New York. She wears many layers, concealing her true shape (feet included), thereby creating a new one. I once saw her on Avenue B holding hands with a man perhaps 75% of her armored size. To my eyes, she has been alone ever since.

This artist has long been a recognizable yet unknown figure floating along the same city grid.

The Counterfeit Circle Complete.

Anya Hindmarch's Whole Foods bag is now on Canal Street.

Remember my stumbling upon the wraparound line at Whole Foods on Houston Street? If not, see my 365 days blog. The line wrapped around the block and people (mostly Chinese) camped overnight, in the cold rain, to buy the bag. I called it the "birth" of a counterfeit.

Now, the circle is complete. On a recent visit to Canal Street, the copied bag figured prominently among the others.