2021
21"x27"
Various Cosmetic Products and Resin on Wood Panel
 
Since I was using makeup as my medium, I wanted this piece to address Western standards of beauty and how a person's value is often determined by their outward appearance. The makeup is a mask that is worn to hide the things the wearer would rather not show. It is an attempt to fool others (and perhaps themselves) into believing that this false beauty gives them value. The secret is that this portrait is based on a friend of mine who is a drag queen. This adds another level of depth to the title, further insinuating that the "perfect" woman does not exist as long as we continue to base perfection on levels of physical beauty. 
 
This piece was completed using a vast array of makeup: foundation, face powder, lip gloss, eyeshadow, oil-based pigments for tinting foundations, grease paints, alcohol-based body paints and more. I estimate that approximately $500 worth of makeup went into this. Most of it was old and not of any value anyway, so I didn't feel too bad about putting it to use in this manner. As much of it is oil-based, I knew that it would probably never dry, so I sunk another $85 worth of resin (a full gallon) into sealing it (which made it terribly difficult to photograph without glares). The eye and mouth voids were painted with alcohol-based body paints onto several layers of the resin to enhance their absence. I had hoped that when I stood it up, the makeup would slide down behind the resin. I even put a timelapse camera on it for a while but nothing happened. Disappointing.
 
My "painting" went through many iterations. I completed the frame the week before the polar vortex. While our power wa out for the week, I worked on it in our bathroom which has two big frosted windows that let light in during the day. I placed it on top of a TV tray in the bathtub and would work on it as long as I could until I had to go warm up again in front of the fireplace. It's hard to work when you can't feel your fingers.
 
Artwork is sold unmatted and unframed unless otherwise noted.