the painting depicts the child star shirley temple as a sphinx. shirley temple's head, taken from a newspaper photograph, is superimposed on the body of a red lioness with breasts and white claws. on top of the head is a vampire bat. surrounding the sphinx are a human skull and other bones, suggesting her latest kill. at the bottom of the painting is a trompe-l'œil label that reads: "shirley!. at last in technicolor." the painting has been described as a satire on the sexualization of child stars by hollywood.