SI#3

Artist's Statement:

The idea behind this piece came from face charts, a technique makeup artist's use to plan out makeup looks. I wanted to do something that related to makeup, because for me, makeup is a huge part of beauty, especially colorful makeup. I really wanted to play with the facade that makeup creates, and how that can be taken as superficial. I decided to do a self portrait, because I wanted to explore the idea of presentation to the world. I also mainly do makeup on myself, so I wanted to experiment with that.

The materials I used were very specific to what I wanted to explore. I used 3 layer of clear plastic, one with the initial contouring on it, another with the colors, and another with highlights. This was used to explore the superficiality, or transparency of makeup, and also to show that usually there are more layers than what you see. It also explored the process of putting makeup on; you first add color, then contour, then highlights. I also chose to use super bright colors, using neon acrylic, because for me the point of makeup is to add life and color to your face.

I had been thinking on this idea for a while, of using color to form a face, and specifically doing a self portrait. At first I thought that I would do it on canvas, but then I used the light projector for the first time, to enlarge an image. When I used the light projector I used clear plastic, and I ended up really liking the material. This also let me control the layers, so that I can always add more layers if I should wish to. I did a lot of research on face charts, too, and looking at how to contour, and how to manipulate color to create certain effects, like blush, and how you can contour with blush.