For my first look, by brief is to create a respectful body paint based around a culture of my choosing. I created a spider diagram of which cultures I could have designed body paint looks for.
For this look I decided to design inspired by the Mexican “Day Of The Dead” festival because I think it is a beautiful and peaceful tradition. I also think that a few of my other looks over my two years at college have been inspired by Japanese media so creating a look for the Day Of The Dead would make me go out of my comfort zone, which is a skill I want to improve on.
Picture from https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c1l4rgve98do
I struggled at first to think of which culture I could represent well, but seeing images of this festival I was captivated by the bright colours and the other traditions associated with this festival.
I got a lot of my information from this website, https://dayofthedead.holiday
“The Day Of The Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) is a two day holiday that reunites the living and the dead.” The holiday celebrates death and reminds the living that their loved ones will always be with them and remembered. I think that this is a beautiful tradition in the way that the people celebrate; things like ofrendas (Spanish for offering) are created to honour the dead. They are decorated with bright colours, the favourite foods and items of the dead, photos as well as yellow marigold flowers. According to the website listed above, “Marigolds are believed to be the pathways that guide the spirits to their ofrendas.” Other online sources such as this website,
https://www.1800flowers.com/articles/celebrate-occasions/day-of-the-dead-history-and-flowers
state that other traditional flowers include baby’s breath, hoary stock, cockscomb, gladiolus and chrysanthemums- these flowers will be featured in my design as part of the headdress. The flower’s vibrant colours and scent attract the departed souls, as they return to feast on their favourite foods. They are called “Flor De Muerto” (Spanish for Flower Of Dead) and they symbolise the beauty and fragility of life.”
Body paint is a form of art that can depict many themes, it can be used in film, TV, or the theatre if characters are designed to look a lot different than the average human; an example being in the X-Men film franchise where actress Jennifer Laurence had to have a full body of prosthetics and body paint for her role as Mystique:
(All pictures from Google Images)
Body paint is also a big part of some cultures; in Mexican cultures it is used in the Day Of The Dead celebrations and in some African cultures it can be used in many ways. The website Everything You Need To Know About African Tribal Face Painting says “In this context, we can mention that the various patterns and paints of the over 3000 African tribes are really different.” which I found very interesting. As an example, this website describes the Wodaabes being known for their beauty while other cultures have different meanings for the body paint they use. This website had a very clear and interesting summary of lots of African Cultures.
Body paint is clearly something that has adapted a lot, from originally being used culturally to being used as an art form and an outlet for many creative people.
In terms of my assessment, my body paint look will represent the bright colours and skull makeup traditionally worn by the living on the final day of the celebration. The body paint will also have elements that represent the souls that enter and leave the living world.