Be still my ink blot- and makeup-loving heart! I came across these images at AnOther Magazine earlier this week and had to share. I've always been fascinated by Rorschach tests and what people see in them, despite their serving no real scientific or diagnostic purpose. As their value in terms of psychological evaluation has long been debunked since the height of their use in the 1960s, Rorschach-inspired prints are now mostly relegated to art and decor. And I couldn't be happier about that – as of late I've been admiring everything ink blot, from rugs to tiles, plates and pillows. So when AnOther married my love of ink blots and makeup for the magazine's dedicated beauty week I just about died. The brains behind these wonderful creations are fashion photographer Agnes Lloyd-Pratt and set designer Victoria Spicer, who were partially inspired by Lloyd-Pratt's childhood experimentation with the process to make masks.
I think what I was most blown away by was the fact that they kindly included the exact products used to create the pictures, so beauty junkies may have fun seeing some of their favorite products in a totally new context. Here we go!
NARS Nail Polish in Night Owl and MAC Nail Polish in Rain of Flowers:
Instant Glow Bronzing Rocks in Pink Bronze by Seventeen, MAC Nail Varnish in Mean and Green, Stay Pout Lip Colour in Infrared by Seventeen:
Maybelline Super Stay Gel Nail Color in Crystal Clear, Sleek Candy Tint Balm in Sherbet, Instant Glow Bronzing Rocks in Pink Bronze by Seventeen, Sleek Blush in Pink Lemonade
YSL Nail Polish in Jaune Babouche, NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Seychelles:
MAC Nail Polish in Mean and Green, Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss in Rootbeer, Josie Maran Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil in Everlasting Honey, Fresh Gloss Lip Balm in Coral Glow Number 2 by Burberry:
Super Lash Mascara in Brown/Black by Seventeen, Sleek i-Lust Eyeshadow in The Gold Standard, Maybelline Super Stay Gel Nail Color in Crystal Clear:
MAC Lipmix in Cyan, Barry M Flawless Matte Finish Oil Free Foundation in Beige 532:
I'm seeing Hungry Hungry Hippos in this one, ha! Butter London Nail Polishes in Tramp Stamp and Brown Sugar, Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in Berry, OCC Lip Tar in NSFW:
Same products as the one above:
Super Lash Mascara in Brown/Black by Seventeen, Sleek i-Lust Eyeshadow in The Gold Standard, Maybelline Super Stay Gel Nail Color in Crystal Clear:
These are wings, yes? Instant Glow Bronzing Rocks in Pink Bronze by Seventeen, MAC Nail Varnish in Mean and Green, Stay Pout Lip Colour in Infrared by Seventeen:
Same products as the one above:
NARS Nail Polish in Purple Rain, OCC Lip Tar in Digitalis, Lip Couture Liquid Lipstick in Lollipop, Stay Pout Lip Colour in Infrared by Seventeen:
Artforum recently featured a joint exhibition of Bolivian-American artist Donna Huanca and Polish artist Przemek Pyszczek. While the latter's work is interesting, it's definitely Huanca's "cosmetic paintings" I want to focus on. I'll be honest, I'm pretty brain-dead from work already this week so I'm going to take the easy way out and let a real art critic discuss the meaning of her work.
Huanca used Chanel eye shadow, liner and mascara onto stretched wool suits. Combining the themes of male/female identity, socioeconomic power and body politics, the Cosmetic Paintings show an innovative take on using makeup as paint. Art Viewer has an excellent description: "Since the 1980s, the power suit and bold use of brand-name cosmetics have armored the female executive on the male-dominated battlefield of corporate life. On the one hand, these outward facing garments and war paint empower; on the other hand they represent a male ideal of the female form. In Donna Huanca’s Cosmetic Paintings, the routine female practice of applying makeup and dressing for success is transformed into a powerful, primal action, employing these loaded, normative symbols of feminine power by applying Chanel makeup onto woolen suit material. In the context of an exhibition, Huanca’s flat works act as backdrops to be experienced in conversation with the body. They are activated through a performance of painted female bodies glacially engaging with the works and space. The juxtaposition of the almost static live performance versus the remnants of intense action on canvas challenges the viewer to ask where social power is stored: is it in the body or in the garments that conceal it?"
That last question is an interesting one, as it seems Huanca views physical bodies and clothing to be interchangeable in her art. "Garments evoke bodies and carry their form and spirit,” she says.
I'm intrigued. Creating abstract paintings with makeup isn't all that groundbreaking on its own. But the use of a power suit as a canvas and the addition of painted live models takes a simple idea (using makeup as a medium) and transforms it into something more complex, illustrating the struggle to navigate a man's world without completely abandoning traditional markers of femininity, like cosmetics. Rather, the raw, thick dabs of shadow and mascara on a wool suit canvas coupled with models wearing only paint as clothing demonstrate that cosmetics can be symbols of power rather than mere prettiness. I would also argue there's a class/status angle here too, although I'm too out of it to properly articulate what that is. I just think it's notable that Huanca opted to break out the Chanel rather than smearing on a less expensive makeup brand. It could be yet another display of power – economic in this case – with the implication being that women high up on the corporate ladder (i.e., who wear suits regularly) can easily afford designer makeup. Or perhaps it's an exaggeration of the idea of the makeup tax: not only do women have to wear makeup to look presentable in professional situations, they require pricier cosmetics in sleek, fancy packaging to truly feel confident. And there might even be an unspoken expectation that they should spring for the "good" stuff in order to fully look the part of a high-powered executive.
What do you think of these paintings?
I have a simultaneously inspiring and saddening Makeup as Muse to share with you today. First, I'll focus on the artwork itself. The city of Donetsk in Ukraine was almost completely destroyed by the German invasion during World War II. But after the war, the city underwent a great renaissance thanks in large part to the women who went to work in Donetsk's newly created factories. In 2012, nonprofit arts group Izolyatsia commissioned a public artwork to honor these women and chose Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou to create the piece. Inspired by Claes Oldenburg's giant lipstick sculpture, Tayou produced an oversized lipstick tube, appropriately titled Make Up! to crown one of the city's industrial smokestacks and pay homage to the women who helped rebuild the city after the war. She explains, "I noticed that, thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian women, Donetsk rose from the ashes after the war and wanted to make some of their own symbols of love and hope, because, from my personal point of view, Donetsk – is not only a city of mines and metal. It is also an island of dreams, ready to share its hidden treasures." What better way to express this sentiment than lipstick?
Now here's the sad part. In early June, Russian separatists from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) blew up the sculpture, as shown in a video that surfaced on June 24.
This was not a random attack. Roughly a year prior to the destruction of Make Up!, DPR took over Izolyatsia's exhibition space and foundation. A DPR leader stated, "We had no choice but to occupy it, because the art, which they spread, was not an art at all. On the territory of Donetsk Republic this kind of art will be punished." Another official noted in an interview, "Considering what kind of art they have shown here, this center had to be seized…this is not art and it cannot be art. These people are sick, and they have demonstrated this art to other sick people…this has nothing to do with anything lofty or sublime, with anything Slavic. These people hate everything Slavic, everything Russian…they’ve brainwashed our youth with this pornography. Our youth, instead of growing, marrying, getting children and getting jobs, they degrade…here our population here hasn’t grown, but started dying out.” The "pornography" that the official was referring to was a book of photographs that contained nude portraits. Additionally, according to Hyperallergic, Izolyatsia also "earned the group’s ire by resisting the xenophobic nationalism that increased in Donetsk after the fall of the Soviet Union and promoting provocative international art — being an 'agent for change,' as Izolyatsia founder Luba Michailova told Hyperallergic last year."
Izolyatsia's entire space – offices, galleries, bookstore, library – was looted and is currently used as, among other things, a prison, training ground for militants, and *shudder* a place for executions. Izolyatsia was forced to leave behind much of the art. Most of what remained has been destroyed, in some cases used for target practice or sold for scrap metal.
I'm still holding out for a happy ending to this. The city was nearly obliterated during World War II but was later revitalized. Maybe a similar renewal can happen after this latest attack. The cycle has been destroy, rebuild, destroy…so the natural next step is to rebuild again, right? It's just wishful thinking on my part, I suppose, but I have hope that Donetsk will reclaim its art someday.
Via Design Crush I found these absolutely amazing teeny tiny paintings on just about any object you can think of, including, yes, makeup. The Curator loves anything miniature so naturally I was quite smitten. Actually, forget miniature – these are micro!
For over 30 years, Turkish artist Hasan Kale has been creating "micro art" on a dizzying range of small objects. His favorite subject is his native Istanbul, but occasionally he branches out with other motifs. While I'm impressed with all of the things he perceives to be his canvas, I was especially interested in his venture into makeup and beauty. Take a gander at this very intricate painting at the tip of a lipstick bullet. I'm dying to know how he did this without nicking the lipstick and having the color mix in with the painting.
I think I want to hire him to do my next manicure…
Hard to tell for sure, but this look like a cotton swab. Again, I have no idea how he got such a precise, detailed scene onto this – I would think the fibers would absorb the paint that's applied.
Here are some non-beauty-related but equally awesome pieces. While these tiny paintings can seem like a novelty, there is serious effort involved. Due to the miniscule size of the canvas, one wrong brushstroke can ruin the entire thing – Kale sometimes holds his breath to keep his hand steady. And it can take up to three days to finish one of these micro paintings. Three days doesn't seem like much, but it's actually a very long time when you consider that his canvases are only about half an inch wide. Talk about patience!
In this interview, Kale states the following about his work: "These are objects from daily life that people hardly ever think about. We don't pay much attention to them. Through my art I want to stress how nice these things can be. I deliberately choose difficult objects, though how small they are or how well they absorb paint is not so important. What is important is that they come to life and bring joy to people." That made me smile. Also, based on his comment about absorbing paint, I'm guessing he doesn't prime trickier surfaces like lipstick or cotton swabs, making the level of detail all the more miraculous. It seems unbelievable, so much so that the artist recorded several videos of himself at work to prove it's all done by hand.
What do you think?
Last week I noticed a huge spike in blog traffic – nearly 3,000 page views (or, sadly, roughly 14 times the usual amount of daily views). Clearly the counter must be broken, I thought, there's probably some kind of glitch that's inflating the number. As it turns out, it was actually correct as one of my posts was linked in one of those silly Buzzfeed lists so that's what was driving all the traffic. Naturally I perused the list to see where the Makeup Museum was mentioned and saw that one of the items included was new work by May Sum. You may remember this lipstick sculptor as being the first Makeup as Muse post I did back in 2013. The Buzzfeed list highlighted some more recent and quite spectacular work of hers that I somehow missed, so I thought I'd talk about her latest makeup-as-art endeavor: a collaboration with Make Up For Ever.
In the fall of 2014 Make Up For Ever celebrated their 30th anniversary by launching a new range of eye shadows that were showcased at an event at Club Lusitano in Hong Kong. Five new eye shadow finishes were introduced in the new line and captured in a photoshoot, with each model wearing one of the finishes. (I have to say I'm fuzzy on the details for this, as the Google translation was awful and I couldn't find any articles in English.) In addition, May Sum created an "Artist Shadow Wonderland", an exhibition consisting of a more elaborate, forest/floral-themed take on her famous lipstick sculptures. She also was behind the intricate flower garden sculptures that seem to sprout from the eye shadows themselves.
These objects in particular were very intriguing. I'm not 100% sure because as I noted earlier, Google Translate made no sense, but I think the one on the far left is supposed to be a lipstick likeness of Make Up For Ever founder Dany Sanz. I really have no idea what the others are, but they might be sculptures based on sketches by Sanz.
Be sure to check out some real-life photos here and here by people who were lucky enough to attend the event and accompanying exhibition. The sculptures look even more amazing than they do in the stock photos. And I liked the simple vitrines used to display the objects. I'm also wondering what happened to the pieces she made, like if they ended up in the Make Up For Ever archives or if they were sold.
So what do you think of May Sum's latest work? Do you like her Make Up For Ever creations more than her previous lipstick sculptures? I think it's all amazing and I can't choose one over the other! All I know is that the Makeup Museum is in desperate need of one of her works.
Via Beautezine, a few months ago I discovered that Sephora Canada was holding a nationwide contest for its makeup artists to create illustrations for Lancôme using only their products around the theme of their holiday collection, called Parisian Lights. The winning image would adorn the packaging of three Canada Sephora-exclusive limited edition holiday sets, and the artist behind it would receive a trip to Paris. I thought this was a great concept. While makeup artists are accustomed to using one's face as their canvas, it's very interesting to see how their skills would translate to a traditional 2D surface.
Sephora Presents to Paris with Lancôme was announced in June and the 10 finalists were chosen in July. Here are their drawings, all created with Lancôme makeup (mouse over the image to see the artists' names, where available – there were 10 finalists and now there only seem to be 8, so I don't have the names of 2 of the artists.)
While I thought some of these were really amazing, only one could be chosen as the winner. Alyssa Steinhubl's drawing of a woman in a ball gown and gloves, hair back in a chic low chignon, gazing at a starry sky over the Eiffel Tower was the winning image. This one was definitely one of my top three of the finalists so I was pleased with the outcome, although I'd love to know exactly which products she used. Steinhubl's illustration appeared in 3 color variations on the Lancôme sets, which were revealed in October.
After hearing about this contest I knew I had to get my hands on one of these sets, especially since the illustration fit so well within the holiday exhibition theme. However, there were none available from my usual source (Ebay) and Sephora Canada won't ship to the States. Fortunately, the husband has an old college friend who now resides in Toronto, and she very kindly agreed to pick up a set and mail it to me. How awesome is that?! Not only did she go out of her way to get this for me, she also refused to accept payment for the item or for mailing it, so it was truly a generous donation to the Museum. I chose the Starry Eyes set since the blue coloring and starry title were perfect for the holiday exhibition.
(I didn't take pictures of the products inside, since they consisted of makeup remover, mascara and eye cream.) Overall, I loved the idea of having a makeup artist create an illustration using cosmetics and putting it on the packaging. I think Sephora and Lancôme should do another one of these contests in the States!
Which of the finalists was your favorite? What do you think of the winning illustration?
Neatorama had posted this a while back and I was immediately intrigued. Makeup + miniatures = awesomeness. Spanish photographer Juan Sánchez Castillo primarily works on high fashion campaigns, but a new series, Making It Up, shows a more playful side. Making It Up combines close-ups of a model's face with miniatures to create visually appealing and whimsical vignettes, inspired by his wife's love of miniatures and his own passion for beauty photography. He says, "My wife loves miniature figures. She used to have whole doll houses filled with little figurines and furniture. And I really love beauty and fashion photography. Whenever I find creative images of miniature figures on the internet I always have to show them to her. With our two hobbies combined, my collection of inspirational images became the beginning of this project. I came across several creative photography projects with miniature figures placed into landscapes and photographed with female bodies. My own creative project idea was then born in my mind. I have been longing to shoot some beauty images, but make them look like landscapes and place miniature figures into them."
The project took six months of planning, and they were shot all in one day. You can read more about the painstaking process of arranging the miniatures here.
I love this series because it captures the essence of what makeup application is about: the art of understanding the contours and planes of one's face to strategically apply cosmetics, determining where the shadows and highlights should go – it's essentially thinking about faces as landscapes with their own unique topography. Castillo's images express this concept literally in a fresh, fun way.
What do you think? I love closeups of pretty makeup application and I love miniatures, so this was a total win for me.
UK-based artist Susan Merrick is a woman of many talents. In addition to her work as a doula, Merrick produces oil paintings, book illustrations, and "bump" art. While I do enjoy her oeuvre in general, what intrigues me the most is the art she creates using makeup.
Last summer Merrick embarked on a street art project, making a portrait of a pregnant woman using only cosmetics. Her goal was to question what we put on our skin.
Her inspiration for the project came from a somewhat unsettling place: new recommendations from the Royal College of Obstreticians and Gynaecologists (an organization akin to our American version) vaguely advising women to be more aware of skincare and cosmetic ingredients, and reducing their use during pregnancy. In an article for The Mother Magazine, Merrick notes that this "raised many questions…whether the recommendation was necessary, if it was underplayed or overplayed and what is actually known/reported about the ingredients of cosmetics." She added, "For me personally it raised the issue that regardless of pregnancy, I should be aware of what am I putting on my skin everyday! I realised that with or without clear research, perhaps we should be paying more attention to what chemicals we are exposing ourselves to." Indeed! Admittedly I never look at ingredients except for skincare, and that's just because I want to see what the concentration of active ingredients is – I'm not looking for potentially harmful things. Anyway, I thought that the street art project was an excellent way to bring attention to what we're slathering on ourselves every day. It also led to some other interesting projects, like going makeup-free for a month (you can check out her detailed experiences at her blog – definitely worth reading) and using up some of her old products to create more makeup paintings.
I love how she manipulates the makeup to mimic acrylic – in this way cosmetics and paint are interchangeable. And in the portrait below, the notion of painting one's face becomes literal.
Merrick will also now be able to add entrepreneur to her ever-growing list of work titles, as the above painting is available at her Etsy shop as a print. (There's more on the way so keep your eyes peeled!)
What do you think of Merrick's work? Do you read cosmetic labels or avoid certain ingredients?
I'm kicking off yet another series at the Makeup Museum that I'm calling Makeup as Muse, in which I feature an artist that uses beauty products as inspiration for their work. For the first installment I want to highlight the work of Malaysian artist Hong Yi, a.k.a. Red, which I stumbled upon last week at My Modern Met and was blown away by these beautiful pictures celebrating Chinese culture/new year. Red's oeuvre largely consists of using non-traditional means to create images, and for her latest series she decided to use makeup. She explains, "Chinese art requires a lot of precision and skill — one stroke can make a huge difference, and many times, less is more. I felt that this is similar to how a woman carefully puts on her make-up."
Red has worked with many non-traditional materials over the years. She created a portrait of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei made of sunflower seeds in homage to his installation of 100,000 porcelain sunflower seeds at the Tate.
She has also done portraits using overlapping coffee cup stains, such as this portrait of Malaysian business leader Francis Yeoh.
According to her biography, Red seeks to "use mundane, ordinary and often overlooked objects to make beautiful art." While this may not be a new concept, Red's execution is what makes her work unique. People have painted pictures using non-traditional materials before, but it's Red's creativity that sets her apart. Take, for example, the use of mascara wands to make the cattails growing on the sides of a pond:
Never have I looked at a mascara wand and imagined it resembles this! Her ability to see beyond an everyday object's given purpose or design is remarkable. She says, "I am inspired by patterns in nature, and by everyday objects and materials that we are all familiar with. I want to challenge myself to not take these objects for granted, but to see potential in creating art using these objects." The intricacy of her work is also extraordinary, as it must take a fair amount of time and skill to transform these unusual materials into a detailed image. You can see in all of the works above how painstaking the process is for arranging one of her chosen mediums – be it flower petals or loose face powder – to compose a coherent picture. I could probably sit for days with a million flower petals and be stumped as to how to produce a bird from them. I'm curious to know whether she sketches everything out first or just gets to work.
What do you think? Are you as impressed as I am? I wonder how much one of those makeup creations would go for…
It's amazing what you find when you follow over 850 blogs. I came across these intricate lipstick sculptures by Hong Kong-based artist May Sum courtesy of Refinery 29. Move over, Paul & Joe kitty lipsticks!
May Sum started her career as a beauty reporter, then evolved into a makeup artist. About two years ago she carved her first makeup sculpture from a stick of concealer, and from there expanded to lipsticks and cream blush. In October 2012 she had her own exhibition in Shanghai's Wheelock Square, one of the city's tallest buildings. "Reflecting her colorful imagination and passion, May’s carvings represent many aspects of a lady's life, while also mapping women's social progress over the past century. There is a cat, a doll, dresses, high heels, saucers, alphabets and even fashion accessories, such as a small purse, each meticulously carved into the head of a lipstick." Sum also hosted a day of makeovers, "encouraging every lady at Wheelock Square to use [makeup] as a way to help realize both her personal and professional dreams." To my feminist self the location of the exhibition seems a little patronizing. The majority (60%) of office workers in the building are women, and the exhibition was held "in recognition and celebration of the importance of lipstick for so many of its tenants." An office building full of women professionals? Surely they'll love a lipstick exhibition, because, you know, all women are crazy about lipstick! Another exhibition press release states, "[Lipstick is] an indispensable part of the modern female professional's life–it is a most intimate and faithful friend. Different shades and brands, worn at different stages of life, can record a woman’s career path and key milestones of her life. No matter her position, whether intern or senior executive, and no matter in what kind of professional occasion a lady’s lipstick stays close at hand. As well as in her handbag, at least one stick of her favored color is likely to be found tucked inside her desk, laptop bag and luggage, just in case." Wait, what? I work with a staff that's almost entirely women and only 2 of them besides me wear lip color of any kind (and it's not a regular occurence either.) So it strikes me as rather presumptuous to assume all professional women are into makeup.
Having said all that, I still love the sculptures themselves. May Sum's newest exhibition, "Woman Power" was held this past August at an art gallery in Hong Kong – it's a much better venue, and as the sculptures are of influential women in fashion and entertainment, it has a more empowering stance than the 2012 exhibition.
Here's Coco Chanel in a chic beige:
Audrey Hepburn in a vibrant pink:
Anna Wintour in a sophisticated rose:
Twiggy in a mod pinkish-nude:
And Lady Gaga in a surprisingly understated peach:
There were many others as well; in the picture below, Vivienne Westwood and Iris Apfel are on the left. I'm not sure who are the right two are, but the one second from the right looks like Marilyn Monroe, possibly?
I love Madonna from her Blonde Ambition days (second from left):
May Sum has also done landscapes and other beautifully detailed designs.
As for interpretation of her work, May Sum leaves it up to the viewer. “People may be attracted by my sculptures thinking they are cute. Whether they can read more into them, and think deeply about consumerism and luxury depends on the individual," she says in an interview. While I think initially May Sum's pieces were more about the novelty of sculpting objects out of lipstick, they seem to have evolved into a more high art concept. Perhaps it's a commentary on the ever-changing relationship between women, beauty standards and power, or a convergence of an object usually associated with a woman's femininity and iconic women who re-shape or defy traditional beauty and fashion ideals.
Want one of your own? If you visit her Etsy shop, you can have anything you want sculpted into a lipstick, even your own likeness! It's not cheap (prices range from $450-$650) but I love the idea of having a custom-sculpted lipstick. I would probably have it shaped into one of my beloved museum staff members. ;)
