Original Statement of Intent
Within the Advanced Art Practices course, I plan on creating artwork that viewers will relate to and/or see a blur between reality and fiction. To do so, I will be combining the use of makeup artistry with photography to compose a series of images which should create the feeling of fiction in our non-fiction world. I plan on practicing my makeup artistry skills on characters almost everyone can relate to; characters developed from children legends and fairy tales. Essentially, my artworks will be an appropriation of fictional children’s stories which have been around for centuries. However, the focus will be on portraying these stories in the non-fictional world through my camera’s lens.
Some artists which have influenced my work are horror photographer’s Joshua Hoffine; for his use of subject matter as well as lighting and set up techniques, and Danielle Anathema; for her use of Photoshop and makeup artistry. However, lots of my inspiration for makeup artistry and character development comes from watching numerous episodes of reality TV shows such as Face Off (a search for the next great makeup artist), Top Model (a search for the next top model), and Project Runway (a search for the next great fashion designer).
I plan on creating these images where there is a blur between reality and fiction by paying a lot of attention to detail when creating each set up scene and character. To do so, I hope to create each character’s costume and makeup effects as well as choose the best environment to portray their persona (this could involve props, lighting, effects, angles the shot is taken, etc.). I have always loved makeup artistry and clothes and continuously find myself creating new characters and taking makeup and costuming to the next level. Therefore, I plan on merging the art of makeup effects with photography to develop this body of artwork. To master this merging of art disciplines I plan on doing trial makeups to extend my skills and learn more about proper application when dealing with makeup and prosthetics. I hope to combine this growing knowledge of makeup and application with photoshop techniques to produce a flawless final image that documents each character creation within their environment.
As I am planning to use children’s Legends and fairy tales as the inspiration to recreate characters within them, I hope to blur the fiction attributed to such characters into the reality of them being real people in the real world documented by a man made camera. As these characters will all be real people in a photograph, the viewers may develop questions of what is real and what is fake. What is made up? What is truth? I plan on taking a closer look at children’s mythological guardians such as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy and putting them into the real perspective; meaning they are all the same person who changes their role for each time of year. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are merely parent/s who would like their child to believe in something greater (like god).
In terms of research for my artistic practice, I will be spending most of my pre-production time looking at various makeup artists’ work and learning how to replicate various techniques they use to create my characters. I will also spend this pre-production time researching various ways to prepare environments which I will want to use for each character’s portrayal. For example, what lights to use, what locations to choose and whether there will be props, etc.
This semester I hope to obtain lots of my props and costume materials for each character I decide to use for a series of photographs in my final show. I hope to complete various trial makeups for each character as well as decide on locations and atmospheres each character might be best suited in. I hope to complete a couple of the characters and then produce the final photographs (most likely the character that can’t be done in winter).
To organize my time and make sure I keep up to my goals, I plan on setting weekly goals for completion. For example, week one might be: Gather the costume and makeup materials for characters 1 & 2 and plan out their scenes for their final images. Every week I will make a checklist and get as much done as I can (only exception being if I can’t find something I am looking for). If I follow my goals, I will get everything I want completed in time.
Some artists which have influenced my work are horror photographer’s Joshua Hoffine; for his use of subject matter as well as lighting and set up techniques, and Danielle Anathema; for her use of Photoshop and makeup artistry. However, lots of my inspiration for makeup artistry and character development comes from watching numerous episodes of reality TV shows such as Face Off (a search for the next great makeup artist), Top Model (a search for the next top model), and Project Runway (a search for the next great fashion designer).
I plan on creating these images where there is a blur between reality and fiction by paying a lot of attention to detail when creating each set up scene and character. To do so, I hope to create each character’s costume and makeup effects as well as choose the best environment to portray their persona (this could involve props, lighting, effects, angles the shot is taken, etc.). I have always loved makeup artistry and clothes and continuously find myself creating new characters and taking makeup and costuming to the next level. Therefore, I plan on merging the art of makeup effects with photography to develop this body of artwork. To master this merging of art disciplines I plan on doing trial makeups to extend my skills and learn more about proper application when dealing with makeup and prosthetics. I hope to combine this growing knowledge of makeup and application with photoshop techniques to produce a flawless final image that documents each character creation within their environment.
As I am planning to use children’s Legends and fairy tales as the inspiration to recreate characters within them, I hope to blur the fiction attributed to such characters into the reality of them being real people in the real world documented by a man made camera. As these characters will all be real people in a photograph, the viewers may develop questions of what is real and what is fake. What is made up? What is truth? I plan on taking a closer look at children’s mythological guardians such as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy and putting them into the real perspective; meaning they are all the same person who changes their role for each time of year. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are merely parent/s who would like their child to believe in something greater (like god).
In terms of research for my artistic practice, I will be spending most of my pre-production time looking at various makeup artists’ work and learning how to replicate various techniques they use to create my characters. I will also spend this pre-production time researching various ways to prepare environments which I will want to use for each character’s portrayal. For example, what lights to use, what locations to choose and whether there will be props, etc.
This semester I hope to obtain lots of my props and costume materials for each character I decide to use for a series of photographs in my final show. I hope to complete various trial makeups for each character as well as decide on locations and atmospheres each character might be best suited in. I hope to complete a couple of the characters and then produce the final photographs (most likely the character that can’t be done in winter).
To organize my time and make sure I keep up to my goals, I plan on setting weekly goals for completion. For example, week one might be: Gather the costume and makeup materials for characters 1 & 2 and plan out their scenes for their final images. Every week I will make a checklist and get as much done as I can (only exception being if I can’t find something I am looking for). If I follow my goals, I will get everything I want completed in time.