The Cindy Sherman of Juicing?
Portraitist Cindy Sherman is famous for her solitary work, in which she photographs herself in a range of costumes she concepts and creates. Portraitist, pre-K teacher, and juicer Nicole Murphy is, too. Or maybe she’s not known yet, but she should be. Her Cloak and Blender Tumblr combines her two greatest passions, food and art, with a garnish of humor.
“It began as part of an attempt for me to get healthier,” she told us. On a break from work last summer, turning to juice snacks was “an effort to not get up every day and drink whiskey and binge-watch Netflix,” as well as a way “to partially remedy a laundry list of ailments” such as stress and loss of energy. Murphy took a deep dive into researching the health benefits of various fruits and vegetables. “I quickly learned that food had a positive effect on mood and the ailments—both real and imaginary, I’m sure.”
As for the punny getups? “The interest in costumes has always been with me,” she said. “I always carry googly eyes in my purse, just in case of emergencies.” And in the case of Cloak and Blender, the outrageous outfits are an entertaining way to spread the word. “It gives people a chuckle and a thirst for trying the juices.”
Not that the costumes are easy to create. The errant fake mustache may have fallen into Murphy’s blender. The errant construction worker may have caught her wearing a shower curtain. “I live in New York City, where you don’t have much privacy,” she said. “I want to make use of the outdoor space I have available to me, but there’s this kind of risk or—thrill, at times—that I might get caught.”
Case in point: the aforementioned shower curtain. “One time, when I was doing 'Breaking Bad'-inspired juice, I wore a yellow shower curtain that was completely open in the back,” and some construction workers saw her outside her window. “It was a very Walter White moment. I was being caught in the act and I had no idea how to explain it."
It remains to be seen if Murphy, like Sherman, will get a retrospective at the MoMA, but she should definitely have a spot in your Tumblr feed.
