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World Cup 2014: London artist turns herself into the trophy with staggering results

Emma Allen posted this selfie after covering herself in gold body paint

Jess Denham
Tuesday 17 June 2014 17:55 BST
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London artist Emma Allen has painted herself as the World Cup
London artist Emma Allen has painted herself as the World Cup (Emma Allen/Imgur)

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An imaginative London artist has jumped on the World Cup bandwagon and turned herself into a human replica of the famous trophy.

Emma Allen, 33, posted a photo of herself covered in gold body paint with her hands over her face to mimic the design. Beat that for fancy dress.

In just 24 hours, her picture has attracted more than 500,000 web views with former England footballer Ian Wright among those to compliment her.

“You’re awesome! I bow to your gift :)” he wrote on Twitter, before making the image his profile picture.

Allen spent two-and-a-half hours transforming herself in front of a mirror in her Elephant and Castle flat, before posing for a selfie.

She wore a swimming cap to make her head look like the eath and painted the intricate detail on with different shades of gold.

The black background was created by painting her arms black and propping herself against a black pillow.

Allen, who admits to not being much of a football fan, was drawn to the idea because the World Cup trophy is such an iconic symbol around the world.

“I wanted to try and see if I could represent it in a face paint,” she said. “It’s been interesting to see all the different interpretations of the picture.

“The hardest thing was getting my arms and hands in the right position. I took a lot of pictures before settling on the final one.”

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