At the 2015 Met Gala: Cara Delevingne’s Body Art

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Model Cara Delevingne with cherry blossom body art at the 2015 Met Gala. (Photo: Getty)

There was plenty of bare skin at the 2015 Met Gala — from Beyoncé to J.Lo to Miley Cyrus — but British model, actress, and self-described “unprofessionally professional human being” Cara Delevingne made sure that her bare skin was well-adorned for the evening. Already turning heads in a non-traditional cut-out Stella McCartney jumpsuit, the model turned her skin into a canvas (literally) with cherry blossoms painted in the style of classical Chinese bird-and-flower painting, a style once associated with scholar-painters in ancient China. The tattoos were created by Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, who has given her over a dozen tattoos in the past, like the the lion’s head on her index finger and the word “BACON” written on the bottom of her foot.

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The strokes follow the curves of her body, from the floral branches twisting around her cleavage and neck to the calligraphic tree trunks climbing up the length of her gangly limbs. It took a team of five, 11 hours to paint the design on Cara’s body that will last for 10 days. There are swallows poking out on the side of her arm, sitting on the branches and gazing up at Delevingne’s smoky eye makeup, bold brows, and tight bun.

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In classical Chinese painting, the swallow symbolizes the arrival of spring. Delevingne’s temporary tattoos are a fitting beauty tribute to the “China: Through the Look Glass” exhibition — they’re subtle, beautiful, and so much more creative than another mandarin collar.

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Celebrity Tattoo artist Bang Bang painting model Cara Delevingne at the Met Gala. (Photo: Instagram)

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