I like the intimacy of it. I like matching the requested design to a person's personality and the structures of their face and I enjoy the magic of painting someone else, the emotional connection that develops. And I'm intrigued by the mix of psychology and anthropology, as well. Some people believe that body painting was one of the earliest forms of art. Today, Western culture is the only culture in which men and women don't both paint themselves. But children, of course, do still love to smear things all over themselves.
You know, I used to have to be alone to paint. But now I think that isolation is actually detrimental to the artist. I'm much more satisfied with the collaborative nature of body painting. I think collaboration is the very highest form of communication. For instance, if a little girl asks me to make her up to be a Disney princess, I like to help her figure out what kind of princess she would like to be -- so she's not just becoming a carbon copy of someone else. It's a fascinating process.
The Frank Bette Center for the Arts will be hosting a kind of wild thing this Friday night: Its first-ever "Body Paint Jam," where, according to the FBCA website, "versatile, comfortable cosmetic paints, costumes, even prosthetics combine in the hands of skilled artists to create visionary artistic statements."
Since I generally associate face painting with kids' birthday parties and street fairs, I sat down with featured artist, Alana Dill recently, to find out just how a face painter could end up at a gallery.
Q: So this face painting business -- it's considered an art?
A: Oh yes. I've gone to two major conventions, taken classes on airbrushing and other techniques. People are getting very innovative with face and body painting. If you look at say, Pashur, who works out of Nevada, or Christopher Agostino or Brian and Nick Wolfe, you'll see the artistry and vision they bring to their work. Agostino, for instance, does face painting as a part of story telling. In the course of narrating myths to an audience, he transforms people into the characters. It's very powerful.
