Rarely has a body painter more defiantly articulated our remarkable connection with astrology. After immeasurable hours of thinking, planning, and astrology body painting, Trina Merry made the zodiac body art visual a reality. 

Titled ‘Astrology Symbols’, World Champion body artist Trina Merry successfully constructed the animals and mythological figures associated with the twelve Zodiac symbols of western astrology,  using human bodies at the San Jose Museum of Art in California.

Are we all stars? Or do the stars determine who we are? Trina Merry delivered her vivid interpretation through body art in a way that other art styles simply cannot. 

Like many of Trina Merry’s famous camouflage creations, the zodiac artwork opened a whole new perspective merging heart and soul, with a raw yet harmonious energy that underscores the relationship between humans and the universe. 

A style of body art filled with engaging visual puzzles for the audience. We don’t blame you for being stopped in your tracks. Meanwhile, you’re probably lost trying to decipher what body parts are where. Also, you’re no doubt marveling at how the models have managed to contort their bodies to make each astrology sign look real.  

Making Western Astrology Body Art   

With mind-numbing levels of attention to detail, Trina Merry’s pinpoint vision and skillful strokes ensured every part, limb, and inch of the depictions was produced accurately. 

Coordinating the paint was just one part of the process. Working with 60 different body art models, who were all flexible and super keen, required Trina Merry’s measured eye to reposition each model to build the body of each symbol. 

In zodiacal order (reading counter-clockwise on the astrological chart), Trina Merry and her artistic team recreated the following: Aries’ ram, Taurus’ bull, Gemini’s twins, Cancer’s crab, Leo’s lion, Virgo’s maiden, Libra’s balance scales, Scorpio’s scorpion, Sagittarius’ archer, Capricorn’s sea-goat, Aquarius’s water-bearer, and Pisces’ fish. 

On some zodiac signs, the extravagant nature of the art style meant up to 9 models were required to fulfill the scene. In most cases, the astrology art symbols consisted of a central person as a focal point, with secondary, tertiary, and more models twisting and turning to form the major exterior features, such as the bull’s bulging horns and crab’s sharp pincers.

Such was the complexity of the Western Astrology art project, that it took around a year for Trina Merry to plan, with each symbol taking around two weeks to figure out. That’s not to mention the significant time it took to paint, stage, and photoshoot in this very temporary style of art. On average, painting for each of the 12 symbols took six hours, alone. Luckily, a lot of body paint and the patience and fortitude of dozens of volunteers were gratefully delivered throughout the project. 

Among Trina Merry’s numerous tasks included brainstorming, creating the symbol sketches, directing model rehearsals, painting and sculpting the bodies, and staging for dazzling photographs to be taken. An essential part of making the astrology body art creation work was to reassess, reform, and rework the designs on the day of the photoshoot to ensure the volunteer performers’ bodies fit the vision immaculately. 

Motivation Behind Zodiac Body Art Style  

The Astrology Symbols art project differs in terms of subject matter from Trina Merry’s signature camouflage body paintings. These typically focused on hard-hitting societal issues like feminism, body-positivity, American politics, and consumerism. 

Why then choose Astrology Symbols as the target of this body art piece? Well, the development of this zodiac art masterpiece allowed Trina Merry to delve into her curiosity of how western astrological theory and its icons have affected culture and people from the times of Hellenistic culture to this day. 

Knowledgeable about how classical artists built massive human and animal sculptures of nude models to tell stories, Trina Merry’s Astrology Symbols painting series executed this through the contemporary gaze of trompe de’oiel Op art. As with many of her previous pieces, Trina Merry focuses her works on a single (subjective) perspective point creating op art illusions, while building intensity of experience to counter body painting’s ephemeral nature. 

The Astrology Symbols painting series just adds to Trina Merry’s glittering roll of honor, which has also seen her work performed, exhibited, and enjoyed at the Whitney Biennial, Attleboro Arts Museum, ESMoA, Museo De Bardini (Florence), Edward Hopper House, Red Dot Miami, Superfine! Art Fair, Satellite Art Show, WORKS San Jose & SOMArts alongside the Guerrilla Girls. 

Stark Comparison to Astrology in Other Art Genres  

Going far back into the annals of history, the transmission of astrological ideas from Arabia to Europe in the 12th century was a driving force for astrology becoming a major part of Western society, well into the 17th century. 

It impacted different types of art. Associations with planets and the cosmos were referenced in great literary works ranging from those of Dante to Geoffrey Chaucer. The visual arts were just as affected. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes included a depiction of God creating the sun and the moon, while Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus shows the goddess emerging from the seas. 

The stories by the Renaissance images of astrology often marveled at their relationship to god and the planet’s magical impact on human lives. Many philosophers had believed astrology art encompassed a functional cosmic power that could improve family fortunes – namely, wealth, power, and status. By contrast, Trina Merry’s Astrology Symbols reexamines zodiac symbols as humans, where the magic of their formation and impact are formed by people. 

Conclusion

Astrology remains a popular topic in pop culture and modern types of art, including novels, movies, and television. Trina Merry’s works help to connect the contemporary observer with the astrology of the past, in a jaw-dropping fashion.

The Images: The Astrology Symbols Series by Trina Merry

AQUARIUS: The water carrier Ganymede, cupbearer to the Greek gods is created to show Aquarius

PISCES: The red and yellow fishes glow brightly on the bodies of the black-painted models.

ARIES: The back of one model and the side profiles of two accompanying people form the imposing face and horns of the brown flying ram of Aries.  

TAURUS: With the painted legs representing symmetrical horns, models gracefully combine to create the face of the Taurus bull also known as the "The Great Bull of Heaven".

GEMINI: Representing the Dioscuri duo, of twins Castor and Pollux, these two flexible models connect in vibrant purple and pink body art to exhibit the Gemini.

CANCER: Look closely enough and you’ll see more than half-a-dozen people merged in beautiful blue and black shades to recreate the Cancer’s crab symbol. 

LEO: A mesmeric capturing of the face of the stoic lion representing the Leo zodiac symbol.

VIRGO: Flanked by blue and white wings, the model represents Astraea – earth’s last immortal when the Greek Gods went to Olympus – and Virgo’s iconic symbol.

LIBRA: Covered in shiny gold body paint, Trina Merry makes these volunteers disappear into the Libra’s scales. Libra is the only zodiac constellation in the sky represented by an inanimate object.

SCORPIO: Yellow and black body paint adorns the crawling scorpion that represents the Scorpio astrology sign.

SAGITTARIUS: Models bodies blackened forming the contrasting background for the gold bow and arrow of Sagittarius. Here’s our GIFT GUIDE for your favorite Sag.

CAPRICORN: The long face of the Capricorn’s sea goat is designed by Trina Merry.