This Malta-Based Model Is Creating Insane Art Using Everything From Pjanić’s Boots To Jimmy Choos
Shoes might be all about design and comfort, but one woman sees nothing but art when looking at footgear.
Squirshoes is a series of art canvases by Belorussian model Dasha Lapushka. Using various types of shoes – from sneakers to heels and everything in between – she creates eye-catching and unique works… and it’s already caught the eye of some major athletes and fashion designers.
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Lapushka, who describes herself as a “great lover of fashion and shoes”, says the inspiration for her works came to her during summer 2019 in Malta.
“I have over 300 pairs of shoes from various designers, and looking at my shoes that I no longer wear or that I never used, I came up with this idea,” Lapushka told Lovin Malta.
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Her first series is based on sketches featuring the shoes as either part of the canvases themselves, creating a 3D effect, or placed on the stools in front of the canvas.
“The shoes represent the path of life for each of us and, by using them in the actual painting, I can tell the stories of those who have worn that pair of shoes, who have allowed me to create a canvas, and which have marked an important moment in their life,” she said.
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She’s also made some emotional art with some special people.
“One boy almost had a fatal major accident where he wore a pair of slippers, one of which is completely broken and the other not,” Lapushka said.
“He asked me to make him a canvas using these shoes to hang this canvas in his room and remind him of the miracle that happened to him,” she explained.
Lapushka’s also used the footwear of some big names to create her art and will be including them as part of her next exhibition.
“Miralem Pjanić, one of the strongest midfielders in the world and also my friend, gave me his football shoes with which I made into a canvas for him to receive immediately after my exhibition,” she said.
“I’ve used Valentino Garavani’s iconic red Rockstuds,” she continued “And the well-known Italian influencer and fashion-lover Giulia De Lellis asked me for a canvas for her home in Lugano using Jimmy Choo.”
Lapushka is coy about how much she sells her artwork for, saying “art cannot be explained and its price cannot be explained”.
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“I sold my first canvases to Paul Marciano, the well-known Guess designer besides being a stylist and also a great lover of art… he’s been collecting pieces of art for a long time,” she said.
A mother of a four-year-old boy, Lapushka lived in Belarus, Italy and Dubai… before settling in Malta.
“I moved to Malta almost two years ago,” she explains. “Actually, I had come with my family for two weeks and then I fell in love and we decided to move here.”
And she wasn’t shy to praise the island’s highlights.
“We live really well here, what with the climate, the food and the people. Malta is a bit small by my standards, but travelling is not a problem,” she smiled.
Her next exhibition will be going down on March 13th between 18:00 and 23:00 and March 14th in the morning at the Excelsior Hotel.
Until then, she wants to “continue my artistic career and make myself known in other countries”.
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