Jean Harlow, On the Move (Fan Mail + Glossy Photos)

Description

This piece is built around a vintage image of Jean Harlow, mid-stride — smiling, polished, and completely in motion.

In the photo, she’s carrying what looks like a stack of fan mail and glossy publicity photos of herself to sign — a detail I love because it’s so telling. Even in the most casual moment, she’s still working. Still performing. Still being Jean Harlow for someone else.

I hand-embroidered the scene with tall, stylized floral forms in cool blue tones, using seed beads and bugle beads to create that sharp little glimmer — part glamour, part armor. The beadwork feels like it belongs in her world: bright lights, flashbulbs, attention, pressure.

This work is part of my ongoing series exploring women in archival imagery — and the strange emotional tension inside old Hollywood:
beauty as currency, celebrity as labor, and the quiet exhaustion behind the smile.

✨ One-of-a-kind mixed media embroidery collage
🧵 Hand-embroidered beadwork + stitching
💙 Vintage Hollywood, reimagined in thread

Wooden Embroidery hoop- 5″ x 8″