
Her models meld into the grey Manhattan skyline as if they're made of mirrors and glass.

Now body artist Trina Merry has spoken about her head-turning technique, painstakingly painting women so they blend in with New York's landmarks, after her incredible creations made headlines around the world.

The 33-year-old shuns studios and canvases, instead letting her nude models camouflage seamlessly into the world around them.

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Art imitates life: New York body painter Trina Merry's models blend into the Manhattan Bridge (left) and Guggenheim museum (right) wearing coloured shoes and bikini bottoms. The 33-year-old began her inspiring project after moving to New York from San Francisco because she wanted to provide a 'reflective view within the landscape' Fame: These images have been viewed around the world - now body artist Trina Merry has given an insight into how she creates her work, despite run-ins with police

On the left, a body painted model sits on a bridge with her back to the camera, gazing out across the city with houses, the bridge and the skyline painted across her. While on the right, the model faces the camera with the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge as her backdrop - with only her brightly coloured shoes clearly distinguishable

They have been photographed in front of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, Central Park, the Guggenheim Museum and the iconic towers of downtown Manhattan.

It's not an easy process - the models must be painted live on the streets in a process that takes several hours and can attract some unwanted attention.

But the law is firmly on her side, as the city of New York allows people to strip off in public for the purposes of artistic expression - even if that doesn't stop police approaching the artist altogether.

Ms Merry came up with the idea after moving to New York from the San Francisco area earlier this year.

'I wanted to engage the city and understand it and make some observations,' she said.

Behind the scenes: The painstaking works by Trina Merry (left) take hours to create and have to be done in public, leading passers-by to gawk in wonder

Jessica Mellow, who posed in front of the Manhattan Bridge, said: 'You feel the transformation process. The brush itself, it's really soft. It feels more like a massage'

Body of work: The artist must wait until there is no chance of rain. In one shoot, she had to repaint her model after a van that was in the background drove away

Nothing to see here: During this shoot last week, a police officer stopped and spoke to the artist after receiving a complaint about her unusual work. The law in New York has been laid down after decades of legal wrangling and firmly allows people to be nude in public if it is for the purpose of a performance or artistic expression

'So instead of a person right in front of the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty, they're softly in the background, and you've got more of a reflective view of the person within the landscape.'

Photographers followed the artist as she went through the process of creating her images in the middle of a busy Brooklyn street last week.

It is a carefully-planned ritual, which involves waiting until there is no chance of rain which could wash off the meticulously detailed designs.

And at one point, Ms Merry had to repaint some of her model after the owner of a van in the background got into it and drove away.

That's not to mention the stream of pedestrians and cab drivers who slowed down to gawk, snap pictures and ask questions - their faces a mix of shock, intrigue and anything-goes resignation.

'It feels great to be painted,' said model Jessica Mellow, who wore only a bikini bottom and running shoes.

Carefully-planned: As with 3D floor paintings, when shot from any other angle the magical quality of the model's blending into her surroundings completely vanishes

Finished product: Ms Merry with her model in front of the Manhattan Bridge. In 1986 seven women from Rochester, New York, protested laws which allowed men to go topless but not women by holding a bare-breasted picnic in a park - which sparked a change in the law six years later, enshrining the right not to wear a top

Checking the results: The photographs by Trina Merry have made headlines around the world with their otherworldly way of making the models blend in with the city

'You feel the transformation process. The brush itself, it's really soft. It feels more like a massage.'

Passer-by Celeste Hernandez said: 'That's so very New York. You cannot be surprised by anything.'

New York's laws allow public nudity when it is in the context of performances or artistic expression, and women are allowed to be topless, two traditions established through a string of hard-fought cases.

In 1986 seven women from Rochester, New York, protested laws which allowed men to go topless but not women by holding a bare-breasted picnic in a park.

The publicity around the stunt - and their hard-fought campaign afterwards - led eventually to a ruling in 1992 by the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.

One of the justices wrote: 'One of the most important purposes to be served by the equal protection clause is to ensure that "public sensibilities" grounded in prejudice and unexamined stereotypes do not become enshrined as part of the official policy of government.'

