Box, who has just launched a book in collaboration with photographer Rankin is definitely my favourite make-up artist at the moment. Her background in fine art brings out a whole different level of make-up artistry making her work theatrical, illustrative and even whimsical and disturbing at times. Her willingness to experiment with different materials pushes the boundaries of make-up creating a fusion of art and performance and an unconventional definition of beauty. Her creations have adorned the faces of models for designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen and my current favourite, Gareth Pugh.
To order her book online please follow this link : Waterstones
I received an email from Ashley Fruno of PETA Asia today thanking me for a job well done on Saturday. I'm glad with the amount of press coverage they received and happy I played a small part in contributing to the awareness for ethical treatment of animals. Here's the email and links to press who attended the event.
Hi Shahnaz,
Just wanted to send a quick note (although
very delayed) to thank you for all your hard work in making Saturday possible.
We were delighted with the amount of press that attended the shoot, and the make-up
absolutely amazing. Attached are some clips from two Hong
Kong newspapers and a Thai paper, and below are what we have seen
online. I thought you might like to see them. I’ll be sending much more
in the next few days….
I had a great time with Eunice and Anna at the PETA photoshoot on Saturday. We spent half the day at Myth Studio in Mutiara Damansara making-up non other then Malaysia's very own supermodel, Amber Chia.
The photoshoot is for PETA Asia's advertising campaign against animal captivity, basically to boycott zoos. Ashley Fruno, Senior PETA Campaigner believes animals belong in the wild and no matter how well they are kept in zoos, no zoo can re-create the animals' natural habitat. Zoos might claim they are educating the public but PETA thinks animals have limited space in zoos and are being exploited for entertainment.
The first photoshoot is of Amber in PETA t-shirt. The make-up and hair for this photoshoot is clean and natural. I decided to sleek her hair back into a ponytail to keep it simple.
After 2 t-shirt changes and a short interview with Ashley, Amber then changed into a white strapless bra and nude coloured g-strings to be painted on. I applied skin protector base to protect her skin and make application of the paint smoother.
The first coat was a mix of Mehron orange, yellow and brown bodypaint all over her back, outer hands and outer legs. The first layer is then dried with cold air of my hairdryer before the second and third layer is painted over. We noticed the paint needs to be applied thinly with a make-up sponge and some water using long strokes. If the paint is too thick and no water added, it will crack easily and needs to be touched up. Details of the orange coat is then done using a paintbrush. I also decided to add some gold paint for highlights.
My assistant Anna then started on the white paint on the front of Ambers' body, inner hands and inner legs. Eunice started on the black stripes using a small paintbrush. I printed out photographs of tigers in the wild as references, as I wanted the stripes to be as similar to a real tiger as possible. The stripes are appled thinly so that black paint can be added on later to make the stripes thicker if necessary.
While the 2 girls worked on Amber's body, I started on her face. She already has false eyelashes on from the first photoshoot so I applied black eyeliner on the inner and outer corners of her eyes to create "cat eyes". She does carry out the feline look very well, I must say. I added more bronzer on her cheekbones and rest of her face and it's all done. Her hair is backcombed and teased with some hairspray to add volume while the ends of her locks are curled loosely using a hair iron. After about two and a half hours (despite the press claims that it took three or four hours), Amber was ready to face the anxious media for her "junggle-setting" photoshoot.
These photographs entitled "Days Of Our Lives" are named after the 3rd longest-running daytime American soap opera aired nearly every weekday in the United States and elsewhere since 1965. The original paintings were done by French painters in the 18th and 19th century depicting everyday life and are at the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon.
The paintings were re-shot as photographs with a twist, incorporating models who represented people from the French colonial empire such as north and east Africa, and Indochina. The background in the photographs still maintained the look and feel of a painting, as the space at Annexe Gallery Central Market was transformed using props and walls painted with colours similar to those of the original paintings. Some of the props were subtly altered to create a more contemporary approach and the wardrobe for the models portrayed muslim africans and middle easterns (who form the largest minority group in France), and the Vietnamese, while preserving the colour palettes of the original paintings. Look closely at the original paintings and compare them with the photographs, there are some interesting modification to discover!
Don't you think these photos look like actual people captured in a painting..?
The theme for this year's Lyon Biennale is "The Spectacular of the Everyday".
Reading (After Henri Fantin-Latour’s Le Lecture, 1877)
Playing for Dying Mother (After Puvis de Chavannes’ Jean Cavalier jouant le choral de Luther devant sa mere mourante, 1851)
The Soldier’s Farwell (After Michel Genod’s Les Adieux du soldat, 1824)
Mother & Child (After Suzanne Valadon’s Marie Coca et sa fille Gilberte, 1913)
This short film was premiered at the BMW Gala Night on August 13th 2009 at the Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur. It was my first time watching the whole end product of the film and it was quite nerve-wrecking knowing what went on behind the scenes!
I did like the film in the end, (especially the tragic ending) and it does project a more mature work from the team. I feel like we have grown together and can only get better. Thank you so much for the blood, sweat, tears and everything else sacrificed in the making of this film. We hope this short film will be an inspiration to aspiring film-makers.
