Dr Sophia Errey
Sophia completed her BA and PhD at the University of Melbourne. Sophia has extensive lecturing and postgraduate supervisory experience, and is a practising artist.
Little Bit of Powder, Little Bit of Paint
Several recent European fashion shows and editorial shoots for several magazines have used face and body painting in a dramatic and non naturalistic extension of conventional makeup. From naïve hippie derived face painting; through the groundbreaking advertisements by Lutens for "Shiseido" to the current sophisticated expressiveness of McGrath, Marais and others; and the rise of specialist makeup manufacturers; this aspect of fashion presentation has become increasingly visible. The paper will explore the discourses around 'painting'; the use of coloured pigments on the body to emphasize artificial and aesthetic effects rather than being aimed at enhancing the 'natural' appearance. Linked to these discourses are moralist condemnations which, beginning with Roman writers, are articulated with even greater vigor in the 17th to 19th centuries. Baudelaire's polemical praise of maquillage as a phenomenon of modernity inverts this tradition and throws into relief conflictual social and gender issues implicated in the debate.The absorption of ethnic and theatrical influences into recent trends, the role of punk, and the function of makeup as mask or disguise will also be considered. A rich variety of visual examples will accompany the paper.
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