The cliche goes that, in makeup, the face is your canvas; a more precise feeling, for me, is that my face is a medium. My makeup technique involves as much awareness of the geometry in my body as it does the deftness of my hands or the tools it holds. Although, certainly, beauty plays a part in all this, it would be a mistake for me to say that I practice makeup in order to make myself beautiful. More than beauty, my personal makeup practice is about knowing myself.
Zoie Ghika's portrait was commissioned by Catherine the Great. After Russia conquered Moldova, Catherine kept Ghika as a member of the royal court. She was an exotic presence, symbolic of the expansion of the Russian Empire to the Black Sea. Google Arts & Culture asks, "What do you see in her gaze and her posture? Is she a cowed princess or a proud refugee?" These questions make me flinch.
What I heard about the nostalgia of my generation: we expect feelings of displacement. Because technology grew so rapidly during our childhood, so many things came & went. We knew the joys of playing outside, but we also played Neopets & Tamagotchis. We talked to our friends on the phone & on AIM &, eventually, … Continue reading Nostalgia (Christmas ’17)
When I point the screen at my face & invert the camera lens, I photograph, frame, see & am myself, simultaneously.
