MERRY x LOVE

Projects between world champion bodypainter Trina Merry and contemporary pop artist Lana Love

Malinche

Merry and Love met 6 years ago developing an off-B’way musical workshop turned Netflix Documentary, called Making Malinche with Hans Zimmer and Nacho Cano.  This musical is based on the love story of Malinche and Hernán Cortés and the merging of their two worlds.

Bodies of Evidence: Living Art at the Getty Villa

Merry painted Love and 11 other models for her performance at the Getty Villa.

She connects the ancient fascination with the human figure to the art of optical illusion as she uses the human body as a canvas for exploring the intriguing forms, textures, and patterns of the Getty Villa. In this daylong demonstration, observe live models being painted from head to toe, then discover site-specific interventions that transform the site as bodies morph into artworks, disappear into the architecture, and emerge from the Villa's gardens.

Lost Boys Music Video

They recently collabed on Love’s music video “Lost Boy” - where Merry painted Love as a 24k gold goddess.

Lost Boy tells the story of a girl who turns pain into beauty and strength. The new single see’s the US hip-hop-infused pop artist open up on her previous experience of sexual assault and offer a voice for others who’ve been through a similar situation. “I wanted to create a world where the divine feminine is reclaimed.”

SXSW Performance with Dippie’s NFT Art

Merry painted Love for her topless performance with NFT art creator Dippies (Digital Hippie) at their picnic event outside SXSW NFT conference.  Love was compensated for her performance with a one-of-a-kind Dippies NFT “Funk Empathy”. Bridging the gap between digital tech and human experience, Merry body painted a t-shirt featuring Love’s NFT in about an hour. 

“We wanted to address the freedom NFTs are bringing to contemporary art culture. What a better way than to bring one to life,” says Trina Merry.

SXSW Cowgirl Prank

Merry spent 3 hours painting on a western vintage-inspired bubble gum pop pink fit with turquoise trim, bedazzled with rhinestones on Love. Wearing only a thong, nipple coverings, and bodypaint, Love walked around the streets of Austin during SXSW to see if anyone would notice. 

They created this optical illusion bodypaint prank to cheer people up during the pandemic at this legendary tech-meets-art festival. They turned heads as attendees did double takes, smiled, and even cheered. Love serenaded and danced with attendees.

“It was an all-eyes-on-me moment”, said Love, “It was so liberating”.

Merry and Love walked up south Congress finishing at the bridge with bats flying overhead at sunset, overlooking the Austin City Skyline and Texas capital building. 

What’s Next:

Merry & Love are collaborating on a top secret immersive human sculpture performance in San Francisco in May. 

15 Female Painters Every Art Lover Should Know 

15 Female Painters Every Art Lover Should Know 

History has forgotten and ignored some of the most brilliant artists in the world because of their gender. Women have been pushing boundaries within the industry for hundreds of years. Yet the most widely recognized painters – from Leonardo Da Vinci to Pablo Picasso to Van Gogh – tend to be men.  Even today, while female artists match and perhaps even outnumber working male artists, they are continually not given the recognition they deserve. 

Although we can’t go back to change history we owe it to them as art lovers to celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to art. These women have worked hard to pave the way for future generations of women to be seen in the art community. Thanks to their efforts, the conservative boundaries have been pushed and there are plenty of well recognized female artists who paint bodies. 

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653)

Art historian Ann Sutherland Harris argued that Gentileschi was the first western female artist to significantly impact the art of her time. She painted Biblical scenes in the Caravaggist style of Italian Baroque art with women as her primary subjects. She depicted dynamic, often violent images to highlight the strength and beauty of the female body. Some art scholars believe that her subject matter was inspired by trauma after she was raped by another artist, but no one knows if this is true. She was the first woman admitted to the Accademia de Arte del Disegno, which gave her some level of independence as it allowed her to purchase art supplies and sign contracts without her husband’s permission. She became one of the most popular portrait artists in Italy, with support from the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II de Medici and King Charles I. After her death, she was excluded from historical art accounts due to her gender. Much of her art was misattributed to her father, Orazio Gentileschi, who was also a painter with a similar style. Her work was rediscovered in the 20th century by a Caravaggio scholar, and she is recognized today as a pioneer in women’s art. 

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749-1803)

Labille-Guiard was a renowned portrait artist and miniaturist leading up to the French Revolution. She primarily worked with pastels and oils and her style was influenced by the Rococo and Neoclassical movements. Her stunning use of light and texture in her portraits, particularly in painting fabric, makes them life-like. She exhibited regularly at salons including the Salon de la Correspondance and was accepted into the Royal Academy in 1783 with support from Louis XVI’s aunts, Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire. At the time, Louis XVI limited the number of female artists in the Royal Academy, and Labille-Guiard openly fought against this. She hoped to create more opportunities for women in art and mentored painters including Marie-Gabrielle Capet. Her 1785 work, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, demonstrates her commitment to supporting younger women in art. 

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)

Cassatt was the only American painter to exhibit her work with French impressionists, as well as being one of the very few prominent women in the movement. An early feminist, she pursued a successful art career and supported the women’s suffrage movement in America. Her paintings depict domestic scenes of women and children, with the primary focus on the mother. Through her subject matter, she quietly asserts the personhood of women and the dignity of domestic tasks. Cassatt was an outspoken supporter of the women’s suffrage movement in America. She pursued art as a career despite resistance from her father and male classmates and teachers at art school who discriminated against her for her gender. Born in Pennsylvania, she left home to study in Paris, where she received art lessons at the Louvre and joined the Paris Salon. She befriended Edgar Degas, who helped her join the French Impressionist group in 1877. Later in her career, she stopped identifying as an impressionist and developed a new style with influences from American and Japanese art. 

Hilma af Klint (1862–1944)

Klint was a groundbreaking Swedish abstract artist well ahead of her contemporaries. Her work was inspired by spiritualism with a colorful geometric style that is completely removed from visual reality. She believed that painting allowed her to connect with a higher power. Her work predates Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich, the male artists that are credited as pioneers of abstract art. But Klint believed that the world was not ready for her work, and it remained largely hidden. It was not exhibited in public until 1986 in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the exhibition The Spiritual in Art -- Abstract Paintings (1890-1985). In 2018 and 2019, Klint’s work broke records at the Guggenheim Museum when her show brought over 600,000 visitors. 

Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938)

Both an artist and a muse, Valadon is one of the most well-documented and visible female painters in art history. She appears in works including Renoir’s Dance at Bougival (1883) and Edgar Degas’ The Tub (1886). Valadon was passionate about art from a young age, but because she could not afford training, she worked as a model to reach famous artists. Although she had close relationships with many French impressionists, her art style was not labeled with any specific art movement. Her paintings consisted of nudes, portraits, still lifes, and landscapes, with bold, expressive colors and textured unblended brush strokes. She explored nudity and sexual pleasure in her paintings of women’s bodies, which was daring at the time for a female artist. She transformed the traditional nude by depicting womens’ bodies in a more realistic (rather than fetishistic) light, thereby challenging the voyeuristic male gaze. Her legacy influenced future female artists to reclaim the nude genre and create their own, more realistic interpretations. Valadon’s work was an early and integral step towards the acceptance of artists who paint bodies. 

Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973)

Often credited with inventing Brazilian modern art, do Amaral is by far Brazil’s most famous 20th-century artist, although not internationally recognized until recently. She traveled to Paris in the 1920s to study art and learned techniques from Cubists such as Andre Lhote. When she returned to Brazil, she integrated the Cubist style with Brazilian subject matter including people, animals, tropical plants, cacti, and sunny Brazilian landscapes. Her signature style consists of exaggerated, geometric shapes and vibrant colors. She is also a master of making paintings of women’s bodies. In her nudes such as Anthropofagia (1929), she plays with shapes and scale to uniquely portray the human body. One of her most known paintings is titled “Abaporu,” which means cannibal, and represents one culture cannibalizing another culture. In this work, do Amaral called for Brazilians to digest European influences and techniques and transform them into a new, national style. 

Laura Wheeler Waring (1887–1948)

Waring was a prominent portrait artist during the Harlem Renaissance. Her portraits commemorate the achievements of black American historical figures. She studied art in  Philadelphia and throughout Europe. Her style is influenced by the French painters Monet, Manet, and Cézanne in her use of light, color, and brush strokes. She founded the art and music departments at the State Normal School at Cheyney, which was later called Cheyney University, and taught there for over 30 years. Her work was featured in the US’ first exhibition of African American art in 1927. In 1943 the Harmon Foundation in New York City commissioned Waring for the series Portraits of Outstanding American Citizens of Negro Origin. Among her well-known portrait subjects for this project were W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, Marian Anderson, and James Weldon Johnson. Today, her works reside in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Archives

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)

One of the most influential women of the modern art movement, O’Keefe is often regarded as “the mother of American modernism.” She is most famous for her enlarged close-ups of flowers, which resemble female genitalia. According to O’Keefe, this resemblance was unintentional, but regardless, her works are distinctly feminine and sensual with bright colors, rounded shapes, and smooth lines. She also depicted desert landscapes and animal skulls, which were inspired by the natural beauty of New Mexico and Navajo culture. O’Keefe resisted identifying as a feminist artist because she did not want her gender to be a focal point of her art. She hoped that people would just view her as an “artist” rather than a “woman artist.” She eventually went blind from macular degeneration and painted her last unassisted painting in 1972. While blind, she relied on her imagination to decide what to paint. She continued to produce art for the rest of her life with the help of assistants. Much of her work is preserved today at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe.

Tamara de Lempicka (1898–1980)

Lempicka was a famous Art Deco portrait artist and queer woman. She was born in Poland, then went on to travel throughout Europe and live in St. Petersburg, Paris, the US, and Mexico. Her art flourished in the 1920s and she was commissioned to create portraits of wealthy and influential socialites. Her portraits feature modern, liberated women and much of her work is strikingly sensual and homoerotic. Her paintings are highly stylized and utilize geometric patterns, bright colors, and high gloss. Much of her work is strikingly sexual, homoerotic and often included paintings of women’s bodies. In La Bella Rafaela (1927), Lempicka depicts Rafaela, a sex worker who was one of her lovers. She is one of the earliest and most well-known female artists to portray lesbian relationships in her work. 

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954)

Frida Kahlo is one of the most widely recognized female artists in the world today. Many historians view her as a forerunner of feminist art. She was strongly influenced by her Mexican heritage and took inspiration from Mexican folklore. Kahlo experienced many tragedies throughout her life, including polio, a miscarriage, and a life-altering trolley accident, and used her art as an outlet to express her pain. Her signature style includes surrealist imagery, bright colors, and florals. She often depicted herself wounded with exposed internal organs as a metaphor for her suffering and selfhood. During her lifetime, women who expressed intense emotions were usually demonized or dismissed as insane. But Kahlo’s work was highly respected and thus allowed more women to show their pain and suffering while still being taken seriously. Today, she is a role model for female artists everywhere and an important figure in Mexican history. Much of her work is displayed at the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City. 

Louis Bourgeois (1911–2010)

Although most famous for her sculptures, Bourgeois was also an influential painter. She was born and educated in Paris and spent most of her working life in New York City. She was fascinated with psychology and explored existentialism and the subconscious in her works. While her art contains elements of surrealism, Bourgeois argued that she was not a surrealist, but rather an existentialist. Recurring themes in her paintings include gender, sexuality, pregnancy, childbirth, naked bodies, and male and female genitalia. She used mostly reds and pinks and painted with Gouache on paper. This method allowed the ink to bleed on the paper, giving her works a fluid style with similarities to abstraction. Bourgeois was active in politics as a feminist, socialist, and LGBT+ ally. She consistently challenged gender norms, particularly in her 2008 painting, The Maternal Man, which shows a pregnant male body. She used her art to fight for equality up until 2010 (the year of her death) when she partnered with a gay activist group, Freedom to Marry. 

Leonora Carrington (1917–2011)

The British-Mexican artist was one of the most prominent women in the surrealist movement. Carrington lived in England, France, Spain, and the US, but eventually settled in Mexico City. She took inspiration from Celtic and Central American mythology and is known for her use of anthropomorphism, metamorphosis, the occult, and the macabre. She was also a writer, and these themes appeared in her stories, which were mostly dark comedies. During her time in France, she socialized with Parisian surrealists including Andre Breton, Salvadore Dali, and Pablo Picasso. The movement was heavily male-dominated, and some art historians view its portrayal of women as objectifying, especially when their bodies are fragmented to draw attention to specific parts. Carrington presented a more feminized view of surrealism by depicting powerful, individualistic women and goddesses in her works. She was one of the last surviving surrealists when she died in 2011.

Joan Mitchell (1925–1992)

Mitchell was an abstract expressionist most known for her oils on canvas. She painted landscapes from memory, but rather than the actual image, she visualized her feelings associated with it. She used powerful, textured brushstrokes and layered vibrant colors. She studied painting in Chicago and Paris, then moved to New York and became an integral figure in the New York avante-garde art scene. In 1929, she relocated to Paris and spent the rest of her life in France. In 1982, she was the first American woman artist to have a solo exhibition at the Musee d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Mitchell mentored young artists later in life and established the Joan Mitchell Foundation in her will to support growing artists. 

Yayoi Kusama (1929–Current)

Best-known for her use of polka dots and vibrant colors, Yayoi Kusama’s work does not fit into any established art category. Her unique style has far-reaching influence that inspired pop artists like Andy Warhol and other contemporary, feminist, and performance artists even today. Kusama uses multiple mediums including drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, fashion, writing, and installation. She has even used body paint in the past, painting her signature polka dots on models. She was born in Matsumoto, Japan and had a difficult childhood with an abusive mother and an absent father. By age ten, she started having vivid hallucinations. She coped by drawing them, using art to work through her trauma and mental illness. She studied art in Matsumoto and Kyoto in the “Nihonga” style and learned ancient Japanese painting techniques. Kusama moved to the US in 1957 and settled in New York City to pursue art. Georgia O'Keeffe, who was her friend, helped start her career by generating interest in her work. She embraced the hippie culture of the 60s for its emphasis on creative freedom, hedonism, and anti-war sentiments. In the early 1970s, she moved back to Japan to focus on her health and continues to work from there today. Her work is still just as influential in the twenty-first century and her artwork sells for record-breaking prices. She has even led to her partnerships with mainstream fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs. 

Mickalene Thomas (1971–Current)

Thomas is a New York-based mixed-media artist who explores the relationship between gender, race, art history, and contemporary popular culture. Her style utilizes bold colors, patterns, and textures with unique materials including rhinestones. The rhinestones in particular symbolize femininity and artifice. Her paintings and photographs are primarily portraits and full-body paintings of black women. She subverts the classical female nude in her style to reclaim agency in its depiction of femininity and sexuality. Her work celebrates black beauty and culture, which has been historically overlooked in western art. She is featured in contemporary and modern art museums including The Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. For more information about Thomas and her work, visit her website.

Conclusion

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25 celebrities in bodypaint...

25 celebrities in bodypaint...

Body painting has thousands of years of history and is an inseparable part of many civilizations throughout the world. People have been painting her body even since before they could read and write.  Even today, we can still find body paint applications embraced in many indigenous cultures as a part of traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and other expressions. In modern society, most people see body painting as body art but it has limited applications in daily life. The military world still consistently uses body painting for camouflage to blend with the surrounding environment that provides soldiers with ultimate cover and advantages on the battlefield.

Bodypainting has made its ultimate comeback in the 20th and 21st centuries when even Hollywood celebs and supermodels started to paint their bodies.  The spectrum got wider as more public figures, media personalities, and artists showed more interest in women in body paint trend.  Celebs and models get their bodies painted for magazines, commercial ads, philanthropic campaigns, entertainment, or even private collections. Internet and social media have globalized entertainment so we can now easily find celebs who have got bodypainting.

The celebrity body painting trend culminated when Sports Illustrated worked on their swimsuit issues.  They started painting supermodels and producing really wonderful issues for the magazine. More Hollywood celebs, models, media personalities, singers, and even actresses joined sports illustrated body paint projects. We’ve listed 25 celebs who got their body painted below so you can adore and draw inspiration from them.  

  1. Demi Moore

Demi Moore could have been one of those bodypainting pioneer models in Hollywood even before it was trending among celebs. Moore's most famous body painting was in 1992 when she featured on the August edition of Vanity Fair as the cover model that’s also said to become a trendsetter of the world’s modern bodypainting. At that time, Moore was fully body painted with a pinstripe-three piece suit that took more than 15 hours in two consecutive days to complete. She was too gorgeous and definitely the main success factor of the magazine’s anniversary edition that dragged more than 100 million people seeing the cover. It was the day before the mother of three was often captured nude at the studio and by the paparazzi.  Since then, the bodypainting scheme, especially among Hollywood’s influencers, shifted into what Moore had done for Vanity Fair and develop from there. That’s why, regardless of the fact that many celebs have done bodypainting, we put Demi Moore number one on our list.

  1. Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum is one of the most body painted celebs/models in the world who include appearing in sports illustrated several times in body paint. Her body was mostly body painted in swimsuits or bikinis back then. Since she’s also modelling in the real swimsuit or bikini for different magazines, people might hardly tell which one was clothed or painted. Her recent bodypainting appearance for her Halloween party was quite an attention drawer. She was actually a werewolf (a monster) and has been in several spooky resemblances but that’s mostly SFX makeup versus true bodypaint. However, her historic bodypainting appearance was for Sports Illustrated back in 2006. In the photo, Heidi’s body was in a painted one-piece bikini with a spiral tie-dye pattern which was so realistic. The artist applied the shading on the edges that make the bikini painting more realistic on her body even as we look closer at different poses in the photoshoot. 

In one footage within Heidi’s short Halloween video “Heidi Does Halloween '', Heidi's upper body was transformed into a bulletin board covered in sticky notes and a wood-panelled wall. Heidi Klum is apparently very consistent in body painting and she undoubtedly has the best medium for the artwork, her gifted body.

  1. Finn Balor

The WWE wrestler Fergal Devitt now popularly known as Finn Balor is renowned for his iconic demon looks on the ring.  Devitt has actually been experimenting with diverse bodypaint themes and presentations throughout his career. The demon-look bodypainting always successfully presents his stage persona “The Demon” with a giant painting resembling the jaws of a beast or monster that mostly covers the head and half of the upper body. The white color on the jaws, red on blood and muscle, and black color as the base/background are creatively well-played around different themes by Devitt. Some themes are Jack The Ripper, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, One-Eyed Demon King, and his original Japanese character “Demon Prince ''. Not only his WWE titles, but his body painting works have been inspiring thousands of fans where some of them even put on Balor-inspired makeup or bodypainting when watching their idol on the stage.

  1. Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is one of Hollywood's biggest influencers, socialites, celebs, artists, and now a lawyer. The mother of three has gone multiple bodypainting throughout years but her most iconic appearance could have been where her body is silver painted portraying the “Art of Reality” for W Magazine. In the photo sessions, Kim was partially dipped into a silver paint bath with only her face not covered with the color. Previously, Kim posted a naked photoshoot to promote the release of her Ultralight Beams back in 2017 where she was literally covered herself head-to-toe in glitter pigments, transforming herself into the Kira Kira filter in real life. Even her simplest bodypainting appearance took on the media where she pose in a desert nude photoshoot with her body partially white-painted. Either way, Kim Kardashian’s curvaceous body took the painting works decently so all of her bodypainting appearances are always attractive whether or not you’re her fan.

  1. Beyonce

Beyonce’s famous bodypainting appearance is for her music video titled “Already” from her last album “Black Is King” which is iconic. Beyonce appears in the video with her body vestured in the teal paint stripes while posing on a big tree. The storyline of the music video is interesting but Beyonce appearance in the striking body painting is just a steal. If we look closer to the photo that’s captured from the video, Beyonce was partially painted as she’s actually still wearing a bra but it’s also painted to match the stripes of the body. While the singer uses different costumes in the video, we should have agreed that the teal-stripe bodypainting is the most appealing appearance.  In the same visual album, Beyonce also showed up once again in bodypainting with vertical green stripes.  Beyonce appearances in bodypainting are major treats and inspirations for her millions of fans. 

Despite ultimate success in her career, Beyonce actually has a personal interest in body painting. The singer has some appearances with body painting, but what she portrayed in her premiere  album video “Lemonade” completely stands out. Laolu Senbanjo is the artist behind Beyonce’s body paints throughout the video. The singer is painted with a tribal geometric white and green pattern that’s inspired by the native African sacred ritual called Yoruba. There are multiple tracks in the video and Beyonce’s body was white-painted in different themes throughout them. Sebanjo’s work on Beyonce bodypainting not only works perfectly with the choreography but also successfully makes the singer’s body light up in the monochrome scenes. The bodypainting artist himself has praised Beyonce as a “masterpiece” referring to his outstanding works on her body.  Beyonce’s body painting in the footage is also very distinctive compared to other celebs in this list and it has certainly inspired many fans.

  1. Rihanna

When it comes to body painting, singer and artist Rihanna was once silver body-painted. Unlike Kim Kardashian who left her head unpainted, Rihana was fully silvered from top to toe. The singer looks so gorgeous in a monochrome nude photoshoot and performed different poses in the video. Her silver-painted body was professionally applied so that it could contrast the background even though they have a similar tone. It might have been inspired by silver men who you can usually find busking around the city square but Rihanna takes the silver bodypainting to the next level. Many body painting artists and photographers even collaborate to resemble Rihanna style silver body painting appearance. Rihanna also took on headlines with her reptile-inspired body paint in the “Where Have You Been” video back in 2018.  it’s very exciting to see what next Rihanna will present with her body painting.

  1. Cardi B

Cardi B was in a full tiger body painting for her music video “Twerk” which was shot in 2018. The body painting artists Christina Mendicino and Avi Ram actually took a couple of hours to transform the singer into a tiger as captured in the photo from the music video. During the scenes, the Cardi’s tiger body painting is twerked, shook, danced, champagne-splashed, and split-dropped around but it remains intact to the singer’s body. The duo body painting artists also did paint Ying Miami of City Girls that appear as a Zebra in the same video. These also tell us that bodypainting could be a tough property for actors and actresses and work like other types of costumes, even better.  If you’re interested in resembling wild animals with your body, you can see Cardi B’s “Twerk” video for your reference or you can straightforwardly contact the corresponding bodypainting artist.

  1. Jennifer Lawrence

Yes, Jennifer Lawrence ever painted her body when she was portraying Mystique in X-Men Movies. Even if you’re not a fan, you should have been familiar with the blue-skinned, red-haired mutant character in the movies. Mystique total body painting on Jennifer was actually a 7-hour makeup which was very tedious for both the artist and the actress. The blue painting on Jennifer’s body even scared medical experts who were concerned about the use of some hazardous chemicals that have bad health effects. Jennifer was taking a risk to put on the body painting for X-men scenes but it’s apparently worth it with the success of the film and she’s eventually fine after shoots. Even though the Mystique portrayal is the only time we see Jennifer with a bodypainting, that’s ultimately iconic and the movie was really good anyway.

  1. Rebecca Romijn

Rebecca Romijn was actually the first actress to portray Mystique in X-Men movies before Jennifer Lawrence and she even did more laborious body painting works. It actually took 9 hours for Rebecca’s Mystique makeup which is longer than her successor did. However, unlike Jennifer Lawrence, Rebecca Romijn was body painted multiple times. She appeared in Skin Wars season 2 as Tiger but eventually became the host of the show in season 3. Rebecca also became the face of the show in the corresponding season where she was also body painted with a surreal flame pattern.  Speaking of the show, it’s actually a reality competition show for bodypainting where all models are body painted and contesting for the trophy and prize.  Rebecca Romijn also appeared in sport illustrated swimsuit body paintings for a magazine before she played Mystique. The consistency of the actress in bodypainting is very inspiring for many people.

  1. 10.Paris Hilton

Who doesn’t know American socialite and model Paris Hilton? Despite the controversy, she was one of the most influential figures in the country’s entertainment industry. The socialite actually posed nude in glitter body paint that she did for Prosecco, the Italian winemaker. Paris Hilton posed as a golden girl on a dune while donning gold paint and crawling across a desert during a drought. It was for the company’s international ads so Hilton’s not only became viral but also commercial at that time.  Paris Hilton was fully covered with gold paint that only bared her hair that even exuded her beauty. The picture was quite a controversy back then but time went by and the model just moved on. The golden girl pose remains the only Hilton’s appearance with a full-body painting in the meantime. We’re certainly waiting for what Paris Hilton does next with bodypainting, are we not?

  1. 11.Ronda Rousey

The retired UFC fighter and professional wrestler Ronda Rousey has some respective achievements in her career.  Back in 2015, Ronda appeared in a swimsuit for SI Swimsuit Issue that made headlines of the year but she eventually came back for the next year’s issue where she appeared in a body painting swimsuit.  Captured in Petit St. Vincent, the UFC fighter had to undergo a 15-hour painting session before the photoshoots. It’s reported that Rousey actually enjoyed the whole process and considered it as a fun experience despite the tedious sessions. That could have been the reason why photo results were amazing and became the masterpiece that we can actually enjoy until now. She’s really gorgeous in swimsuit body painting. Even though Ronda’s photoshoots for Sports Illustrated are a limited source to see her in bodypainting, they’re still inspiring for artists and fans.  

  1. 12.Miley Cyrus

There’s something standing out in the Future’s fourth single video “Real and True” that’s starring Mr Hudson and Miley Cyrus.  The video has the scenes where Miley Cyrus is wrapped in metallic body painting after being stripped down in the lab setting of a spaceship apparently for subject experiments. In the video, she only bare her face and hair to be covered with silver metallic paint. When laid in the lab, Miley is fully captured so we can practically see her whole silvered body in a humanoid appearance.  If you take a look closer at the scene where she’s in face to face with Future, the silver metallic applied on Miley’s body was actually glittered and went up to the shaved area of her head. The space-themed video finally placed the single at 55 on the BillBoard hot 100, thanks to the good music and Miley’s appearance.

  1. 13.Ashley Greene

Back in 2010, Ashley Greene appeared in nothing but body painting in a daring ad campaign. We know that the Alice Cullen actress is gorgeous whatever she’s wearing so it’s very exciting to see her in body painting, right? In the photoshoot, Ashley Greene was in a two-piece bikini body painting with a purple colored fish skin pattern. Unlike Cardi B or Rebeca Romjin, Ashley wasn’t resembling any fish or mermaid as the bodypainting was clearly meant to be a bikini. There were several poses she did for Sports Illustrated and you can see both half-body and full-body poses covered with the body paint. There are at least two sets of Ashley Greene’s body painting photoshoots for the Wearing Zero campaign. In another set, Ashley’s body painting was an orange-colored one-piece swimsuit but still had the fish skin pattern. Make-up artist Joanne Gair is behind the bodypainting masterpieces put on Alice Cullen’s body.

  1. 14.Kate Upton

Kate Upton was a multi-edition Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model 2012,2013, and 2017 after her debut in the magazine back in 2011. She has appeared as a model for the magazine several times but the photoset in March 2013 titled “Wonders of the World '' is definitely worth highlighting. Instead of a bikini, Kate’s body was painted with multiple necklace-like patterns that consecutively wrap her upper body. At this point, we can see Kate covered with metallic jewellery instead of a bikini bra in a dusk beach setting. Kate Upton’s body painting debut was photographed in a two-piece blue bikini painting at a studio. The model’s last appearance in Sports Illustrated was in 2017 but she posed in a real bikini instead of bodypainting. You better check Kate’s photo sets for Sports Illustrated for more bodypainting pictures of the model. After looking at them, we should have agreed that Kate Upton is one of those wonders of the world.  

  1. 15.Charlize Theron

The academic award winner Charlize Theron has a long career in film but people are always amazed how the actress is simply ageless. Her beauty was excellently preserved while her acting performance just matured. Charlize is known for her unique roles but she always proved herself as a decent actress. Besides the achievements in the movie industry, Charlize Theron also has an expanded career in modelling and once posed in bodypainting.  In this photo, Charlize Theron is covered with nothing but gold paint from top to toe while posing on a chair.  There is a limited source of Charlize’s body painting photos but we can obviously adore Charlize’s goldy curves in that picture. The golden body paint Charlize Theron pictures already have tributes from fan artists who have remade the pic art versions.  If you’re one of her fans, you must check her bodypainting photoshoot.

  1. 16.Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj was first captured in bodypainting when she posed for Vogue back in 2012.  In the photo, Nicki was wearing a red dress and sleeves with a full shade of blue bodypainting from top to toe leaving only her pink-dyed hair and lips. She’s posing elegantly on a chair with a vibrant color setup of blue tone, pink hair & lips, red dress, and grayish background that result in a striking photo result for the magazine. Nicki’s appearance was actually very special as the photos were captured for the Power Issue of American Vogue magazine. Since her debut bodypainting appearance, Nicki had been experimenting with various body painting themes and even showed up in several video footage. The singer considered bodypainting as her costume not an outfit and that’s probably why she could be so creative in her appearances.  Nicki even designed the pink lipstick she’s using in that body painting picture.

  1. 17.Ariana Grande

In her music video “God is a Woman '', Ariana Grande shared an epic and powerful message about woman empowerment as well as her very first bodypainting appearance. Ariana collaborated with artist Alexa for the music video which resulted in both masterpieces in art video and big hit music. It only took 40 minutes to paint Ariana’s body and she’s actually painted on sections of her body instead of fully painted.  The artist testified that it was Ariana’s genius idea to apply the setup as it just looked amazing in the video. You might have noticed and wondered how come the body paints were not diluted to the liquid where Ariana was submerged. The answer is in the liquid itself, Ariana Grande was actually having a milk bath in the video so the paints won’t get destroyed from submersion. As you might have expected, this particular Ariana’s appearance has inspired many fans to remake the body painting.

  1. 18.Jenna Dewan Tatum

Jenna Dewan Tatum literally went naked and body painted to save animals in the campaign photoshoot for PETA back in. The campaign’s tagline “ wearing exotic skins kills” was matched with Jenna in snake-like body paint in the background. The message was to educate people not to use reptile’s skin products and to promote a cruelty-free fashion industry. In the particular photo, Jenna was a woman with the body skin of a black snake along with detailed scales painted from the model’s neck to feet. Jenna’s body painting was actually a part of a bigger cruelty-free campaign where big companies like Nike, Victoria’s Secret, and H&M also signed the pledge for not selling any exotic skin and using synthetic materials instead. At this point, Jenna’s bodypainting is an impactful yet inspiring campaign and it just made a point. If you look at her poses for PETA,  we could agree that Jenna Dewan Tatum is super gorgeous even without exotic skins, only paints needed.

  1. 19.Chrissy Teigen

The American professional model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen was the inspiration of John Legend’s greatest hit “All of Me”. Not only her husband, but Chrissy also inspired many people, especially fans with her body painting photo. Chrissy Teigen was body painted and photoshoot for Sports Illustrated swimsuit back in 2013 even though she actually debuted for the same magazine in 2010. She was body painted in a vibrant two-piece red bikini by Joanne Gair who also made up the model. The swimsuit painted on Chrissy was actually inspired by Kate Swim that made an original appearance on “Oscar de la Renta” but she actually did better in her body painted rendition. The painter has successfully translated the bikini designs into a bodypainting that perfectly sit on Chrissy’s body. The photoshoots took place in Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas and the man behind the camera was Walter Iooss.  Unfortunately, that’s the only photo set we can find Chrissy Teigen in bodypainting.

  1. 20.Kylie Jenner

Successful model, media personality and businesswoman Kylie Jenner got her body painted for the second time to announce her birthday collection on 10th August 2021.  In that photo, Kylie still wore pants but her entire upper body was painted in gold paint. The model’s lower body only received some gold splashes and melts. The nearly naked photo did spark debates and almost controversies among her fans but it’s just a powerful marketing force from Kylie Jenner. Overall, the photoshoots are professionally done but since it’s posted to promote her make-up collection, you might not find the set in any magazine. Kylie’s first appearance with bodypainting was actually her unreleased image from a former project with photographer Sasha Samsonova. She was only covered with metallic blue paint and posted the photo to Instagram instead of to any official release.  Will Kylie get her body painted for the third time?

  1. 21.Lake Bell

During her directorial debut, Lake Bell posed naked with only bodypainting on the cover of New York magazine’s Fall Fashion issue back in 2013.  In that cover photo, Lake’s body was actually covered with a flowery temporary tattoo that’s specially designed by her husband who is also a professional tattoo artist Scott Campbell.  The former actress and now director posts entirely naked with body art for the magazine following the massively growing popularity of tattoos. Unlike other body paintings in our list, Lake was technically “body tattooed” except that the artist used temporary ink. You can not only adore the wholesomeness of the design but also the details or shading and texture of the grayish rose tattoo.  Lake was 34 years at that time and promoting her directorial debut movie ”In A World” when the photos were taken. That’s the only photo of Lake Bell in bodypainting that we can adore.  Would you get flower tattoos on your body like Lake Bell?

  1. 22.Megan Fox

Megan Fox is an American supermodel many men and women are obsessed with. If you’re one of them, you might have wondered if Megan Fox got body painted.  Once you go online, you can easily find her portraying Super Girl in bodypainting instead of a rubber/latex costume. While Megan’s body painting portrayal of the DC’s character sparked a debate on its authenticity, we’ve confirmed that it’s actually her. Megan actually portrayed the comic version of the character where the belly is exposed instead of the live-action serial version where all upper body of the Super Girl is fully covered with the costume.  In the iconic pose, Megan is shedding the black kimono outer to expose the Super Girl bodypainting costume. Whether or not you’re the character’s fan, you must probably agree that Megan looks wonderful in this particular bodypainting appearance. Besides, those are the only portrayal where we can adore Megan Fox in a body painting.

However, Megan’s body painting portrayal of the DC’s character sparked a debate about whether it’s authentic or fake. We’ve researched the photo and unfortunately, we couldn’t find convincing evidence if it’s actually her. There are no magazine, official releases, or social media posts linked to the corresponding photo so that’s probably not Megan Fox. We’ve also found some indications that the photo was cropped, airbrushed, and extensively edited to put Megan’s head on someone else’s body. Regardless of the doubt and authenticity issues, the photo still allows us to imagine how Megan might look if she actually gets her body painted and poses for us.

  1. 23.Gisele Bundchen

Brazilian fashion model Gisele Bundchen was once listed as one of the world's top-earning models by Forbes. Gisele was captured in bodypainting at least twice throughout her modelling career as far as we know. The first one is when the model debuted her catwalk when got topless with a white body painting as the cover. The second bodypainting appearance is more popular because it’s used as a part of the promotional campaign of Ipanema sandal lines that are designed and co-owned by Gisele. In that commercial photo, the supermodel was wearing nothing but a pair of green Ipanema sandals she was promoting.  Her body was fully covered with greenish tattoos from her shoulder to around her ankle. She looks ultimately gorgeous posing with her blonde hair loosened down and fully tattooed body. Even though it’s for commercial use,  the promotional campaigns were likely more localized so you won’t find the photo in major magazines or media.

  1. 24.Courtney Stodden

Singer, media personality, and model Courtney Stodden is renowned for her talent and beauty. Her career rocketed after competing in local beauty pageants and released her music where she consistently gained more recognition.  Courtney Stodden once shocked Comic-con with the upper body in a full-body painting and cosplaying Captain Marvel complete with the red leather glove, red boots and red waist. The body paints are gold, blue, and red which are the basic colors of the character. As for cosplaying, Courtney’s bodypainting and accessories were already accurate to resemble the character but she also had a tooth bag and some fliers with her. While Courtney’s appearance at the event was stealing, she’s actually campaigning for PETA to educate people about being vegan and cruelty-free. Yes, Courtney Stodden is another PETA’s girl on our list and she indeed eventually stole attention from the crowd when appearing at giant events like Comic-con.

  1. 25.Taylor Momsen

After retiring from acting, former actress Taylor Momsen decided to pursue her music career with her band The Pretty Reckless.  As for promoting her new album Going To Hell, Taylor appears in a frontal photo where her body was naked and painted with only black lines resembling a cross and an arrow.  Taylor even stripped down her black cloak to reveal this symbol in one music video of the album titled “Heaven Knows”. If you take a look closer at the body painting, Taylor looks like being taped with black tape. The video is simply a more intense moving version of the album’s photo because you can clearly see the whole process of the revelation in the smoked room setting as the song reached the climax. Taylor looked hot and gorgeous both in the photo and music video but more importantly, it’s so inspiring to see how the former actress becomes so total in changing course to be a singer in a band.

Living Election Map


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Even politics has a seat at the body paint table! As many are still glued to their TVs and smartphones awaiting the results of the 2020 elections, we can’t help but remember the innovative “Living Election Map” Trina Merry created last year.

During the 2016 presidential elections, New York Magazine live-streamed artist Trina Merry body painting nine models with the outline of all 50 US states. Almost like a human-shaped coloring book, Merry painted in each state red or blue once the electoral votes had been released.

This creative project shows that body paint can be used to live stream important information. Instead of competing with major news stations all reporting the same news in the same format, New York Magazine went a more artistic route.

Those watching the live stream still got the same voting results coverage, but they were able to sit, watch, and enjoy the live painting regardless of the party they identified with. Over half a million people watched the video on Facebook, and it received over 3,800 comments and over 1,000 shares.



The Naked Human Temple That Inspired Nepalese Women

“Many artists find that their pieces resonate with audiences if they go for an element of surprise in their work. ”

Such is the case with one of body painter Trina Merry’s pieces, the Human Temple. At first glance, it appears to be a red temple with a golden statue reflecting in ripples off the water. Look more closely and you’ll see that the temple is not a building at all, but rather a configuration of 17 naked circus performers and dancers artfully positioned to turn a common sight into an extraordinary living, breathing piece of art.

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As a body painter, she is very familiar with composing unexpected works of art. While people are becoming savvier to body painting and in some cases even more comfortable with nudity because of it, it is still a thrill to fool the mind and leave her audience wondering, “Did I really just see that?”

 
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Exploring the human body as a sculptural medium is Merry’s specialty. It took her nearly nine hours to create The Human Temple live before an audience at WORKS San Jose Gallery. She said the atmosphere was very upbeat as many visitors stood and watched her paint and the models pose for hours.

Working with humans in front of a live audience connects Merry to her art – and audience - in a unique, almost intimate way, like no other type of medium. She intentionally designs pieces that challenge the mind and awaken the soul. 

According to Merry, she’s had women tell her that the body paintings have empowered them, that they were able to feel more confident in their own skin after modeling in the buff for one of her projects. Merry is happy to be the catalyst of change for them and wants to keep pushing the limits of her art in order to prompt discussions and bring about societal change.

This particular piece of art was very special to Merry just for that reason. It was designed with classic red and gold colors in the style of a Tibetan temple because it helped raise funds for Beyond The Four Walls, an organization that seeks to empower women in Nepal. In this South Asian country, females are often sold into slavery, married at young ages and become victims of violence. Very few enjoy the privilege of going to college. 

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While Merry’s artistic gifts raised money to support this important cause, she was also able to be directly involved with teaching women in Nepal business skills and lessons in art so they could explore their own interests and strengths.

Merry said she was inspired on this project after reading about the ancient uses of body paint to help heal a culture. Intrigued, she crafted The Human Temple to be a shared experience, one that connects her with the audience for a fleeting moment in time hopes that through her art she can continue to be the fuel for inspiration women in Nepal can hold close to their hearts.

Meet the Artist Hidden in the Landscapes: Cecilia Paredes

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Hidden behind each intricate pattern, lies Cecilia Paredes. Paredes serves as the main subject to the majority of her portraits, where she cleverly camouflages herself against the background using textiles and body paint.

“I wrap, cover or paint my body with the same pattern of the material and represent myself as part of that landscape. Through this act, I am working on the theme of building my own identification with the entourage or part of the world where I live or where I feel I can call home. My bio has been described as nomadic so maybe this is also a need of addressing the process of constant relocation.”

Who is Cecilia Paredes?

Cecilia Paredes is a contemporary and installment performance artist. Paredes, which suitably means wall in Spanish, has mastered the art of transforming into animals, plants, and camouflaging herself into various landscapes, conveying her theme of adjustment to different surroundings. Paredes has won countless awards, residencies, grants, and international art prizes. Paredes’s art is influenced by Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois, William Kentridge, and Anselm Kiefer. Her most well-known series is called Landscapes, where Paredes uses body paint to camouflage herself into various floral backgrounds, tackling the issues of migrations, re-locating, and the longing to belong. The inspiration for the series comes from Paredes’ life experiences as a migrant from Peru.

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Blue Landscape (2007)

Brief History of Body Paint

Bodypaint uses the human body as a medium to express messages, ideas, beliefs. Every artist has a different message behind every piece of work. Body painting has been around for some centuries, with some coining it as the worlds’ oldest art form. Some records show many ancient tribes from Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia often utilized body painting. Body painting was an essential part of the tribe’s daily life, spirituality, and rituals. Body painting was also important for celebrating various rites of passage, or milestones like puberty, marriage, coming of age, births, and deaths. Some ancient traditions that have traveled into the practices of modern society, can be found in places like India. Where Indian brides often incorporate bodypainting traditions into their wedding ceremonies. Body painting has a rich history, and its beautiful imagery and meaning being each piece have persisted. Modern body painters continue to use the art form for commercial projects, celebrations, and to express messages.   

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Aboriginal men in bodypaint Source: Artlandish

Cecilia Paredes’ Early Life

Born in 1950, Paredes originally grew up in Lima, Peru, where she studied Plastic Arts at the Catholic University of Lima. Cecilia also studied in England at the Cambridge Arts and Crafts School. Paredes lived in Peru until the early 1980s, when she left amid a violent civil war.  “In summer of 1983, my family and I left Peru. That experience left me with an ache in my heart that never healed. My family left because we owned a newspaper that was expropriated by the guerrilla communist movement in Peru, Shining Path,” says Paredes. “As you can imagine, the consequence of losing your means by violent action are immediate, terrible, and somewhat indescribable. We did not have any economic support beyond the newspaper and our security was in question, so my family left Peru to look for work overseas. Leaving your country for any other reason than because you want to is very hard. Since then, I have thought of our departure from Peru as more of an exile.”  

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The Flight (2000)

Eventually, she settled in Costa Rica, where she would stay for the next 25 years. Paredes had some resentment for having to leave Peru but later came to the understanding that it was a blessing. “After so many years abroad, I feel I was so lucky to stay alive, have a family and develop my career. But when I return to Peru, I feel a gap in my heart“, Paredes explains. Costa Rica is a beautiful country rich in wildlife and plants. Her accessibility to nature is what first inspired Paredes’ first photo performance series, “The Animals of My Time.” The focus for this series were marginalized animals – animals that she feels are often misunderstood. Paredes explains that she wants “to feel what they feel.” “It started in the year 2000; that was when I made the first works in the animal series. I placed some dragonflies on my back like wings. It was a very autobiographical work: I wanted to fly! I took a liking to impersonating animals,” Paredes explains. “I love Nature and I am drawn to marginal animals like skunks, armadillos, snakes … the ‘outsiders’ … I feel more comfortable with them.”

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The Transformation (2003)

Animals of My Time: Cecilia’s Paredes’ Early Artworks

In one of her first portraits of the series, La Venada, Paredes transforms herself into a deer.  At the time of the portrait, body painting was not a widely practiced art form, so body art resources were scant. With little access to modern body art supplies, Paredes used mud and shoe color for this portrait. Paredes explains that there was not any editing done to the photo, but the contrast of the mud accentuates the whites in her eyes.

 Paredes created the antlers by making a mold from an actual pair that was lent to her by the Costa Rica Natural History Museum. Paredes developed some close friendships at the Museum, who would supply items for later projects such as “The Transformation.” She was able to reproduce the antlers with the mold using resin and patina. Cecilia’s inspiration for the deer came from the role the deer plays in Peruvian Andean mythology. The deer is split between the land of the dead and the land of the living. She explains that in some excavations, you can find the sculpture of the deer half inside the tomb and half outside.

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La Venada (2002)

Also, during this time, Paredes created a portrait called “Snake Woman.” Paredes’ inspiration for this portrait came from her fear of the reptile. Being that Central America is full of many types of snakes, Paredes wanted to accomplish this piece to come to terms with her fear. The Costa Rica Museum of Contemporary Arts granted Paredes access to their basement for this project. To reproduce the way snakes bury themselves in the sand, Paredes glued imitation snakeskin to the side of her body and immersed herself under a truckload of sand. “Snakes go under sand so I bought 300 lbs of sand and buried myself under the sand,” says Paredes. As one could imagine, being buried in the sand was not easy. To overcome the difficulties associated with the project, Paredes had to change her mindset and “think like a snake.” “I had three times I had to start all over again because I was suffocating and I was not coming into terms, until I started to think as a snake. So, lower your positions, lower your cardiac rhythm until you stay still,” says Paredes. While under the sand, Paredes made a mental poem recounting her feelings at the time and understanding the perspective of someone who is under the sand.

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Snake Woman (2002)

Paredes received the opportunity to exhibit some of her work at the Venice Biennale in 2005. The Papagallo (The Parrot) was one of the portraits that she displayed in her exhibition. The portrait featured Paredes covered in colorful feathers, perched, to resemble a parrot. Cecelia was inspired to create this piece after meeting a man in Costa Rica that had a parrots sanctuary in his backyard. Parrots were severely endangered, and people were poaching the animals to sell them to tourists. This prompted the man to rescue the animals and keep them. Paredes made a deal with the man and agreed to come to visit the birds once a week, for nine months. Each visit, Paredes would collect feathers that have shed from the birds. Eventually, Paredes collected enough feathers to create the shawl that she is wearing inside of El Papagallo. Paredes also expressed excitement for the man because he was granted funding from a network in Sweden. He now has a reserve called Piedras Blancas, where the birds will be released back to nature.

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El Papagallo (2004)

Cecilia’s Migration to the U.S.

After living in Costa Rica for 25 years, the Central American country was what she considered home. But, after marrying her husband Jay Reise, an opera composer, she made the difficult decision to move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Paredes’ move to the United States began an entirely new chapter for her life.  During this move, Paredes started a diary, which was she describes as “half writing on my skin of what I have left behind, half writing what she was encountering, half-dreaming about certain things.” This diary and move are what inspired Paredes; most acclaimed projects, the Landscapes series.

In Landscapes, Paredes photographs her camouflaged body and clothing into floral-patterned wallpaper and textiles, often, with just her hair and eyes being the only indication that someone is standing there. In many body paintings pieces, a nude or semi-nude female body is often used to relay a message about sexuality. For example, Trina Merry’s Urban Camouflage series uses body paint to camouflage models into iconic New York infrastructure. Merry aims to juxtapose the hard lines of architecture with the soft curves of the body, exploring the historical messages of gender placed on the buildings. This is not entirely the case with Cecilia’s work. Paredes explains that “Performance involves nudity one way or the other. The human body is a vehicle to express your thoughts. The series is not about the body, though. It’s about location so in this case, the body is part of the landscape.” Paredes states that “The theme behind all is relocation after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin.”

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Both Worlds (2009)

The desire to belong is an issue many other immigrants face, often not sure where they fit in or what home means to them. Dr. Aixa Perez-Prado, a senior instructor at the Florida International University, recounts her experience as an immigrant from Argentina. “For years I thought that my real home was Argentina and the house where I was born. Yet, I would visit Argentina as a child and teen and be teased for my strange habits and less than Argentine accent.  I would struggle to fit in but never really would. To this day when I go there I often feel like the ‘other,’ says Dr. Perez-Prado. “But then what about the place we childhood immigrants grow up – is that then home? I grew up in Buffalo, New York, a place very different from Buenos Aires in multiple ways. There I learned a new language and way of living, made new friends and became part of a new family when my mother remarried and had two more children.  I went to school in Buffalo, learned math, went through puberty, went to college, fell in love and had my first broken heart there. But was it ever really home? I am not sure. I was also ‘othered’ many times during my snow-capped Buffalo years.”

Landscapes

Each portrait in the Landscapes series reveals an aspect of Cecilia’s connection to new and former places. Describing the story told through the series of portraits, Paredes explains, “In the beginning, the image of the person is totally still. Then the person gets a little more confidence and starts moving along, mimicking the background with hands… And now, the background is gone, and it’s completely contained in the body.” Paredes uses body paints to camouflage herself into each background, she explains that “I chose a section of the design from the pattern that I have selected for the background. I begin by experimenting, painting my assistants. I take photos and then, when I am happy with the results, I paint myself or my assistants paint me by copying what I have done. It depends on which part of the body we are working with at the time.”

Paredes’ first piece of the Landscape series is “Skin Deep.” The subject of the piece is Cecilia, and she is standing, faced away, camouflaged into yellow and blue floral wallpaper. Only Cecilia’s top half is shown, with her hand tucked away in front of her, creating stillness in the photo. “Skin Deep” represents the beginning of Cecilia’s integration into the United States, calmly standing as she tries to integrate herself into a new environment

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Skin Deep (2007)

The Landscapes series involves several pieces of textiles that help Paredes tell her story. “The textile itself is so essential to me. So absolutely essential, like the second skin, almost. I always go, wherever I go, the first thing, to a textile museum, to a museum of embroidery to see how they made the silk. I am a museum goer, like very intense amount. So, I really, really do believe in textile, in embroidery, in colors, how they define places, and how important it is,” states Paredes. “Let me tell you a horror story, but true. When they opened the anonymous graves of the killings in Peru, the only way they knew who was there was because of the textiles.” Textiles are essential in many countries and express the identity and culture of a region. African textiles are iconic for their bright colors and bold patterns. In contrast, many Asian textiles are known for intricate designs and floral patterns, such as the ones Paredes camouflages herself within “Asia.”

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Asia (2008)

“Costa Rica My Other Self,” is one of the portraits that include influential textiles for Cecilia. In this portrait, she camouflaged into a black, green, and red floral fabric.  The textile influenced Paredes because it contained flowers that she recognized from Costa Rica, which she considers her second home. Cecelia expresses that wrapping herself in the fabric was to make a statement. Similar to the way people wrap flags around themselves or those who have passed away. 

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Costa Rica, My Other Self (2007)

As the Landscapes series continues, the portraits illustrate the subject becoming more integrated into her environment.  As opposed to the first piece, “Skin Deep,” the subject in her portrait, “Art Noveau,” has moved and is now trying to mimic the background. “Art Noveau” shows Paredes camouflaged into a brown and gold brown wallpaper while she is mimicking the intricate detailing of the wallpaper with her hands. Paredes explains, “Now, in this case, the character is already feeling a little bit more at home, so she’s starting to imitate the landscape. The hands are trying to imitate the shape of the art nouveau shape behind.”

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Art Noveau (2009)

Towards the end of the Landscape series, we find that the subject has abandoned her static pose and becomes one with the rest of the landscape. Cecelia’s portrait, Corinthian, shows that subject nearly wholly hidden with the black and white drapes in the background. “Corinthian” expressing Paredes finally feeling like she at home and now fully integrated into the landscape.

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Corinthians (2014)

Cecilia Paredes’ Legacy

In her photo performances, Paredes uses her body to tell her story and the story of many marginalized beings in our society. Paredes’ “Animals of My Time” series merges her identity with animals that are often marginalized in our culture. Often these are animals who are neglected, feared, or face prejudices. Paredes’ uses her photo performances to become one with the creature at a conscious level, bringing some solidarity with how she and the world view them.  Paredes’ Landscapes series give a glimpse into the struggles of migration and the longing to belong. A narrative that resonates with many immigrants that have been forced to move to escape violence, find better opportunities, or for the good of their general welfare. Landscapes show the process of Paredes being introduced to a new environment and slowly becoming more antiquated with it, though she did not realize it at first, “I always have a lot of doubts,” says Paredes. “But only after seeing a lot of my work on display before an exhibition I realized that I was telling my own story.”

 If you want to learn more about Cecilia Paredes and her artwork, we recommend watching her Artist Talk with the New York School of Visual Arts. Let us know which piece inspired you the most in the comments below!

https://youtu.be/cPIhGU45CW0