Reactions

This past week, I have found myself stuck in a creative rut, if you will.  I am currently working on multiple sculpture pieces at the same time, this is new for me.  I rarely work on more than two pieces at the same time.  It is quite the challenge.  But two nights ago, I remembered a video of a performance piece I watched last year in Figure Sculpture. This is the video:

Instantly I was set with inspiration!  With my future career focused on makeup, this piece had far more significance to me now than it did a year ago.  I grabbed some clay, called up a friend, set up a photography studio in my apartment and here are the results.  My reaction piece.

Before
Model: Nancy Pickard

Clay Reacts
Part I

Clay Reacts
Part II

Clay Reacts
Part III

Clay Reacts
Part IV

Clay Reacts
Part V

Clay Reacts
Part VI

Rather than mimic Sagazan's sculptural element like in his performance, I treated the clay as a makeup product.  I used only one layer of clay that I darkened with water or additional clay.  I am pleased with the contrast in color between her eyes and hair with the clay and skin.  I was fascinated how childlike Nancy looked after I covered up her eyebrows.  The element of makeup, even though I used clay, and the transformative properties it holds never cease to amaze me.

Vancouver Film School

I have been doing some research on the next step of my education since I am a senior and will graduate in April of 2014.  I was looking into various types of education in makeup and I happened upon the Makeup Design for Film & Television program at Vancouver Film School.  Have you ever heard of the Sci-fi television show "Face Off"? That is what I immediately thought of when I discovered this school.    The makeup their students do is phenomenal!

One of their exercises was to create realistic makeup for a practice emergency crisis.  Here is a video of that experience.

And here is a video of the aging process using makeup:

This school looks incredible - as if it's too good to be true!

Fall Research Statement

In my senior year at DAAP, I am enrolled in Senior Thesis, a class that will be my capstone of my college experience and guide me as an artist entering the contemporary art world. Below is my fall research statement.  My main focus and concept is still in the works as I continue to search how I can meld makeup into my art beyond my photography.

I am interested in the fragility of human life; how short or long a person’s life, how many live mundane lives when yet they only have one life and they are wasting it away.  Some people die very young where as others live to be over one hundred.  Some people waste their lives with drugs, alcohol, and meaningless jobs or within a prison cell. The human life is fragile and delicate thing in the existence of the world.  I wish to explore the complex nature of a lifespan within my work; Make the audience feel for their mortal soul.  My audience is everyone because everyone has an expiration date.  I wish to bring mortality into recognition for them so that they might live a more full life.  I will accomplish this by sculpting the human figure out a various materials that express human mortality and the vulnerability of the human body.

            I plan to use sculptural materials that are uncommon in sculpture but help build on the concept of the vulnerability of human life.  I would like to experiment with ice and nature but I do not necessarily want my thesis work to be a time sensitive piece.  Other materials I intend to build with include thin plaster, wax and fabric.  My goal is to experiment with working away from realism and trying to be more expressive and abstract with the human figure.  I want my intentions to be clear to my audience and I believe that the right materials can achieve this.  For example, I plan to carve human figures of all stages of life from candles, some of them packed neatly in little boxes while others are on display and even some have already been used.  The concept is that each candle has a determined amount of time to burn before it becomes melted and can be used no more.  The wick is symbolic for a person’s lifespan and the variety of people carved into the candles will represent how everyone has a set amount of time on this earth.

            The majority of my past work includes the human figure and the skeletal structure.  I have worked mostly in sculpting bronze, clay and steel but I have also completed art in drawing, photography and printmaking.  In all of those mediums I have made art about the human figure.  Therefore, I have a very detailed and definite understanding of portraying the human figure, which is a great strength for my thesis work.  I have learned that my best work is done when I can use my bare hands to mold the medium, such as with clay and wax.

            My goal for the fall semester is to make as many sculpture pieces as possible.  I want to push the limits for myself and make sculptures of various sizes and mediums.  This way I can find what I’m most comfortable with or possibly discover something new that works best for me and allow my thesis artwork to be the best that it can possibly be.  I want my audience to connect with the figures I sculpt and see their lives represented for them.  

Foundry: In Progress

 I took Foundry in the Spring Quarter of 2012 and I have the privilege to take it a second time at DAAP.  This course teaches how to create bronze and aluminum sculptures. We learn how to vent our wax pieces, create the molds, assist in the pour, grind the metal pieces and use patinas.  I will be posting   a "How To" guide for the ways of the Foundry because I often get so many questions about the process when I tell people I'm in the class.  But before I post the full guide, I wanted to share my first piece that will soon become bronze! I have several narrative concepts for my art in this class. The first is the story of the iconic super hero and the child who looks up to him.

Here is the wax sculpture, which is the first step in Foundry. 

For over a year, I have been fascinated by society's obsession with superheroes.  The super hero character seems ultimately flawless in skills, intelligence and resources. Unlike every single person on this planet.  There is no real super hero in the way that Superman, Batman and the like are depicted. Like boys grow up reading and watching superhero comics, wear the underwear with the superheroes emblems and play with the action figures.  These heroes are depicted as flawless to children.  As an adult, I read a comic that took place many years after the typical Batman and Superman scenarios and both protagonists were older, with grey hairs and imperfect morals.  It was shocking to see these infamous heroes with traits of mortality and humanity about them.  This piece is my tribute to this idea of imperfect heroes.  When this piece is finished, the "superhero" will be wearing a blindfold as well as a cape.  I am unsure about what colored patinas I will use but I am very excited to begin this process and will be sharing with you very soon.

Displaying Van Gogh

For the first field trip in one of my classes, known as Visual Art Concepts 2, we attended the Cincinnati Art Museum to experience beauty.  The beauty could be found in anything, from the paintings on the walls to the exit sign by the door.  I happened upon my favorite painter, Vincent van Gogh and that became my experience of beauty.  It was so because of the way the painting was displayed.

Undergrowth with Two Figures
Vincent Van Gogh
1890

The painting above was displayed in an alcove made up of floor to ceiling black fringe with one lone spot light fixed on the painting.  As I stood there, gazing at one of the last pieces Van Gogh painted right before he died, I was transported to that forest with the two figures.  I do not believe I would have had that same experience if the piece had been shown in a different setting; especially a setting such as shown below, just on a wall surrounded by other paintings.

The way art work is presented is crucial to the audience's experience of an artists work.  I highly recommend that you go to Cincinnati Art Museum and experience this Van Gogh painting just as I did.  

Here is the link to the Cincinnati Art Museum website:

http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/

Makeup Apocalypse

For a few months now, I have been interning with the Taylor Jameson Hair Design in Northside.  Each year, the salon participates in the annual Northside Fourth of July Parade and this year, I was asked to assist with makeup.  The theme for the salon was Zombies and I was so excited to do some more character makeup!
I met with the salon's team the night before the parade and Michael Sparto gave a demonstration of the zombie look that they wanted for the next day. On the day of the parade, I was instructed to do base coats on peoples face and exposed skin of either a green or blue hue.  Once things got moving and my task was complete, Michael gave me two people as my own projects.
With these two "zombies" I was allowed to decide the contouring, shading and wounds.  Nancy was my first and biggest project.

Model: Nancy

She had a blue zombie tint that I used a reddish brown, or a dried blood color, if you will, to contrast with for shading and extra zombification.  Also, painting her lips with a pale cream helped complete the walking dead look.  I say that Nancy's project was bigger because I gave her a bite mark.

Nancy's left arm, bite 

For this, I used liquid latex and it was also my first time using this product.  I kept dabbing the liquid latex in a bite mark shape with a toothpick, letting it dry and then adding more layers.  Once it had dried, I applied some blue and purple eye shadow to give the illusion of bruising, threw on some fake blood and she was ready to go scare people. :)

My second project was Kevin, who worked at the salon and had been styling hair until it was parade time.  I had less time to work on him, but was able to use my knowledge and experience from Nancy to create a zombified look for Kevin.

Model: Kevin

Kevin was a very natural zombie, as you can see. Because we were on such a time crunch, we took photographs before I finished his hands and neck with blue.  I had a wonderful time creating zombies and being one!  And just for a little fun, here is a picture of me as my zombiefied self. (I did my own makeup as well.)

Missy White: Zombie

Artist of the Month #4

This month's artist is the makeup artist, Sutan Amrull.  I just recently learned about Amrull when I searched "America's Next Top Model makeup" on Google.  I'd been trying to think of a new artist to post about and I thought I would focus on a makeup artist this week.  I often watch America's Next Top Model because I enjoy watching the creative photo shoots that the models participate in, specifically the makeup is what intrigues me.

Self portrait
 Sutan Amrull

So it turns out that Sutan Amrull is the makeup artist that has been America's Next Top Model's makeup expert and correspondent for over nine seasons.  Amrull was a drag queen at one point in his career and has done makeup for celebrities such as Adam Lambert, Pamela Anderson and Tyra Banks.

Adam Lambert
Makeup by Sutan Amrull

I am very pleased to find out from his website bio that he has a strong background in fine arts and that this is a key factor that helps separate his style apart from other makeup artists.  This gives me a lot of hope about my own career since I, too, will have a strong knowledge of fine arts that I believe will help me (and already has) greatly in my future career.

Makeup by Sutan Amrull

I decided to post about a makeup artist that was not involved in stage makeup because I learned this past weekend that applying makeup to other people that is not for the stage is an entirely different experience.  I assisted a salon in North Side with some makeup for a dress swap event for some mothers of a local school.  This experience was beneficial because I left with a better understanding of how makeup application changes based on a person's skin.  Also, since this was not for a character onstage, I had to apply the makeup based on their personal likes and dislikes.  All the women wanted a natural look which is a look that I do not do often.  So, in summary, a very challenging and much needed experience.

Tyra Banks
Makeup by Sutan Amrull

My makeup differs from Amrull by that I have yet to learn how to apply makeup for a photo shoot, only stage makeup which requires a much heavier hand because the audience is not close up.  Below is an example of the heavier hand that stage makeup requires as opposed to makeup for a magazine photo shoot.

Ursula
Makeup by Missy White

I wonder what celebrities will be in my portfolio in the future?