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    Artist Documents Her Experience Dressing More Feminine To Get A Job

    "It was comical how off-brand I was."

    When artist Coco Layne was interviewing for a job that would require her to look "conservative," she realized how slight changes in her gender presentation affected how people treated her.

    So she created Warpaint, a photo project that explores the subtleties in her gender presentation.

    "I guess the idea of this project grew out of shaving the sides of my head off."

    "I never gave much thought to the versatility of this hairstyle until I was looking for a temp job last year."

    "I scored an interview with a conservative women's retailer."

    "It's comical really, how off brand I was."

    "There was no way in hell they were going to let me work there with a shaved head so I hid it during my interview by wearing a wig!"

    "I then realized I couldn't wear a wig every day so I began hiding the sides by parting it down the middle and wearing a lot of makeup."

    "(They didn't find out about my bald head until months later!)"

    "It was a really interesting experience to have to be in hyper feminine presentation in the workplace."

    "The experience wasn't really like putting on a 'femme costume' or anything, I was always still the same person."

    "That's really the idea I wanted to explore in Warpaint, how one person could seamlessly go from each end of the feminine/masculine spectrum through presentation of makeup and outfitting."

    "I wanted to include only subtle changes from photo to photo in order to showcase the real appearances that I might present myself as from day to day."

    "Some days I don't feel like wearing make up and I'll throw on a shirt and some pants and it makes me look a little more masculine than I would usually look."

    "I identify as a queer femme person who prefers female pronouns, so it's fascinating to see the nuanced correlations between how I present myself and the way people treat me."

    Watch a video of the transformation here:

    vimeo.com