Sunday April 5, 2009
When the body is a canvas
By SANDRA LOW
A unique fashion event showcases stunning rainforest-inspired bodyart.
IN the still of the night, a spotlight comes on at the end of the runway and all eyes focus on a black fabric screen boldly painted with a bouquet of eye-catching red hibiscus.
Sounds of the rainforest blare from the sound system to mimic the setting of this most unusual fashion show in Kuala Lumpur’s Lake Gardens, and then, almost magically amidst all the hooting and croaking, a model emerges from beyond the screen wearing a bodysuit of black, dressed with even more tropical blooms.
Makeup artist Jennie Delica patiently works on a tigress backstage. Each look takes five hours to complete. What’s so special about the outfit, you ask? Well, only that the floral get-up was painstakingly painted on by hand by a team of makeup and graphic artists and took an astounding five hours to complete.
This look – called the Red Hot Hibiscus – was the first of many equally stunning works of art to appear on human canvases at the Breathing Palette body art presentation by local cosmetic brand, Stage Cosmetics, which comes under the Alliance Cosmetic group.
The show, held on Wednesday in the city’s most famous green lung, was part of the week long Stylo Fashion Grand Prix KL 09 event in support of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The body art showcase featured the work of some of the most talented body artistes from the Philippines – Jennie Renales Delica, Alex Bulan Vicencio, Lorie May Ortanez Quesada, Michelle Colanta and Michelle Literal – all specially brought in for the event by Stage Cosmetics.
According to Marina Khong, senior brand manager of the company, this is the first time Stage presented a body art show.
“Basically, the concept for Breathing Palette was developed together with Tan Thiam Hock, managing director of Alliance Cosmetic group. We wanted to illustrate that makeup was not limited to the face, and we also want to support the growth of creativity and the exchange of ideas in this region,” she says.
Khong explains that the show was inspired by the natural beauty of Lake Gardens and the theme was meant to be a tribute to the diverse flora and fauna of Malaysia’s rainforest.
Brazilian model, Bruna, wears a mask of almonds and yoghurt to portray the tree bark look in Raging Rainforest In keeping with the theme, six visual concepts were created – Red Hot Hibiscus, Raging Rainforest, Orchid Odyssey, Call of the Jungle, Sensual Serpent and Moth Mythology – and these concepts were interpreted and adapted by the team of artists to form the visual feast that was showcased that night.
So what exactly does it take to prepare the models for such a show?
Backstage, 10 hours before showtime, the Filipino artists pin up sketches of their body art for reference and quickly get started on the models with their painstaking brush work.
It takes each makeup artist four to five hours to complete one model, but there is a lot of waiting in between for the paint to dry, airbrushing and for embellishments such as colourful bindis and glittery accessories to be glued onto the skin.
While the pressure is certainly on, there is still room for friendly banter among the artists, and the models, who have to sit absolutely still for hours on end, amuse themselves by chatting on their mobile phones and taking photos.
The human canvases comprise professional models from Russia and Brazil, and local dancers Benjamin Xavier, Atiqah, Wei Jun and Rooba Lavanya.
Leading the dedicated team of artists is Manila-based Delica, 36, a London certified and trained specialist with experience in special effects, body art, air brushing, high-definition makeup for film, commercials, theatre and photography.
“When we received the concept for the body art show from Mr Tan and Marina, we did a lot of research by referring to books on art, makeup, animals and gardening, and we came up with sketches from there,” says Delica, who does makeup for major advertising campaigns and holds the position of chief instructor for makeup at The Centre for Aesthetic Studies in the Philippines. She met Tan and Khong while she was the makeup trainer for Revlon, one of the brands under the Alliance Cosmetic group.
A model shows off the Call of the Jungle look. Delica says that once the sketches were approved, they worked with props craftsmen in the Philippines to create the headgear, footwear and other accessories for the models and dancers.
So were the designs painted on bare naked bodies?
Delica explains that while body art is normally painted on nude skin, the team had to find a way to improvise for the show in Malaysia.
She says, “Of course it would be easier to paint on bare skin but we managed to find a skin-tone lycra-type fabric for the models to wear. It came in one size and we had to cut it away against the model’s body so that it would mould perfectly against her silhouette like second skin.”
One of the more stunning works was the Raging Rainforest, painted on 24-year-old Brazilian model, Bruna. Up close Bruna’s body had pieces of bark-like material in various shades of earthy brown and moss green protruding from her skin and if she kept really still, it wasn’t hard to imagine her as a tree in the rainforest!
The Raging Rainforest works the runway with a head of branches and roots on her feet. – Photos by SIA HONG KIAU / The Star “This is my first experience being painted as a tree and I can’t look at myself in the mirror – it’s just too creepy,” Bruna says with a laugh.
This tree-bark look was perfected after quite a bit of experimenting on Delica’s part and the end result was thanks to an oatmeal like texture made of almonds and yoghurt.
The artist quips of the ingenious face pack, “Bruna will have really smooth skin after the show!”
Eliana, a 20-year-old Russian model who wore some of the most colourful paints as the Sensual Serpent, says, “I have done photo shoots for body art before but this is my first time doing a body art runway show in Malaysia, and although I am restless, I am having fun.”
Like Eliana, we were all in relatively good spirits until we entered the Fashion Marquee for the show. Having attended international runway shows, I have gotten accustomed to being assigned front row seats – simply because that’s what we need to be able to report concisely on the event. However, this time round, it was free for all except for the “who’s who” who had their names plastered on the seats in the front rows.
It’s a good thing I managed to schedule a backstage visit before the show, otherwise I would have missed the meticulous strokes of artwork as three rows of heads hindered my view during the show.
Still, all that creativity was a sight to behold, and as the models sauntered down the runway, gasps of delight eminated from the audience, which included royalty, local entertainment stars, corporate figures and special guests, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen and celebrity shoe designer Datuk Jimmy Choo.
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