Popstar Makeovers has been performed at events including Whitstable Splashdown, Whitstable Biennale and Vyner Street Festival. The work began with a series of over one hundred hand-drawn images redrawn from photographs of children in face-painting books. I removed the original face paint and replaced it with makeup inspired by pop stars known for their heavily stylised looks. These drawings were then used as the basis for live participatory performances, where members of the public were invited to be made over into their chosen pop star.
The project explores transformation, performance and identity through popular culture, shifting between drawing, face painting and live interaction.
Medium: Paper, pencils and face paint
Alongside the live performances, I created a series of mirror works using drawings developed for the project. The drawings were redrawn from photographs of children in face-painting books. I removed the original face paint and replaced it with makeup inspired by pop stars known for their heavily stylised looks.
For the mirror works, I hand-etched the black outlines onto the reverse of the mirrors before painting the pop star makeup onto the glass using coloured nail varnish. As viewers look into the mirrors, their own reflections appear alongside the transformed faces, extending the ideas of identity and performance explored in the live makeovers.
Medium: Etched mirror, coloured pencil and nail varnish.
Shown in :
Splashdown Whistable Biennale, Kent (UK)
3 and 17 June 2006
