MAKEUP SERIES: TREMBLING I-XXX
2018, materials: Discarded makeup: mascara, eyeshadow, color correcting fluid on Terraskin stone paper, 11" x 14"
MAKEUP SERIES: TREMBLING
Frontera 2018 Statement:
As a non-printmaker, my approach was to work in a series using a material I had been exploring in sculpture: discarded makeup. I constructed Makeup Series: Trembling using imagery of aspen groves, native to the West. The applicator-wand and remaining used mascara content were ideal for forming the body of the trees; discarded eyeshadow and color correcting fluid were used for leaves and sky. I used a recyclable and biodegradable paper made from natural stone, Terraskin, which does not contain wood, nor water or bleach in its production. While I repurposed, and used a sustainable paper source in all 30 works, I grew increasingly alarmed as I came to fully understand the toxic ingredients in most of the makeup, coupled by the plastics used to hold the products and their impact on our water.
Traversing the frontera of internal and external landscapes, and the complicated—both/add terrain of what exists and what emerges, there was a charged borderland to navigate between body and material. The characteristics and symbolism of the aspen groves further provoked awareness not only from an environmental perspective but from the spiritual and psychological as well. One of the many symbolic meanings associated with the aspen tree marks it as a guide to understanding love as the ultimate power. The regenerative grove as a single living organism with a massive root system that thrives on fire, connected me back conceptually to my sculptural work with makeup. Wrapping discarded makeup containers with camo-tape to create a field of figures, became a way to reference current political issues of resistance as well as sacred traditions of painting the flesh as ritual, preparation for battle, self-care and healing. This sculptural work, along with what I discovered in this series on paper, has inspired me to further investigate the range of these concepts.
As a non-printmaker, my approach was to work in a series using a material I had been exploring in sculpture: discarded makeup. I constructed Makeup Series: Trembling using imagery of aspen groves, native to the West. The applicator-wand and remaining used mascara content were ideal for forming the body of the trees; discarded eyeshadow and color correcting fluid were used for leaves and sky. I used a recyclable and biodegradable paper made from natural stone, Terraskin, which does not contain wood, nor water or bleach in its production. While I repurposed, and used a sustainable paper source in all 30 works, I grew increasingly alarmed as I came to fully understand the toxic ingredients in most of the makeup, coupled by the plastics used to hold the products and their impact on our water.
Traversing the frontera of internal and external landscapes, and the complicated—both/add terrain of what exists and what emerges, there was a charged borderland to navigate between body and material. The characteristics and symbolism of the aspen groves further provoked awareness not only from an environmental perspective but from the spiritual and psychological as well. One of the many symbolic meanings associated with the aspen tree marks it as a guide to understanding love as the ultimate power. The regenerative grove as a single living organism with a massive root system that thrives on fire, connected me back conceptually to my sculptural work with makeup. Wrapping discarded makeup containers with camo-tape to create a field of figures, became a way to reference current political issues of resistance as well as sacred traditions of painting the flesh as ritual, preparation for battle, self-care and healing. This sculptural work, along with what I discovered in this series on paper, has inspired me to further investigate the range of these concepts.
