On my mind.

I want to know everything about this woman. And the man who so strongly influenced her work.
Cant wait to get back to Melbourne to start my discovery...

Cindy Sherman

Lifes a funny thing. We spend most, if not all of our lives trying to be something more or something different to what we are. Skinnier, happier, hipper, richer.. I could go for days. In this we, ourselves act as illusionists, actors. In doing this we escape the real us, the people who can bore us, disgust us or shame us. Or on the other flip of the coin, someone who we dream to be. Someone who represents the true inner us, the person who when we face the world- faces it with much more confidence.

Through clothing, beauty and learning we can alter this ego to slowly change the core person to something more. Something that can sometimes represent the true inner us, or.. in many situations- disguise us.

Working as a makeup artist I see this in every client I work with, there is something they want to change, hide or conceal. This saddens me... I always say to clients when they tell me how their clear, pore free skin is hideous- that their own self perception is so far from the truth.

And thats how I want to change the world. In my small way.. as geeky or as dorky as it sounds I want to show everyone that I touch that in small ways, they can minipulate or enhance their own beauty to make them feel empowered and beautiful.

Through work I have discovered Cindy Sherman. A woman who, through her art, through manipulation and enhancement- can change the world. And wow, my how she has. Her ability to address political issues, portray her opinion on female supression and so much else has made her one of the most established and well know artists in the world.



The real Cindy Sherman

This year her photograph, for which she is the model, makeup artist, hairdresser and photographer, Untitled # 96 sold at Christies for a world record price (the the highest price ever paid for a photograph) for A$3.89 million.




In her work, Sherman is both revealed and hidden, named and nameless. She explained to the New York Times in 1990, "I feel I'm anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren't self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear."

Her artist abilities stretch far and wide- and through her heavy requirement and use of prosethics, she has inspired me to develop a solid need to learn more in this art.










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Helmut Newton. Relate.

Helmut Newton.. sheesh.. Its crazy how much I love this mans work. Always capturing my love of female empowerment, the female form and high fashion.. all with a fetishistic and erotic flavour.

His story is one of inspiration for me, as I have unknowingly followed a path incredibly similar to him.. Though he was born in Berlin, Germany; he moved to Northern Victoria, Australia in his early 20's.. the place where I moved to after living elsewhere. There he interned as a journalist (me studying at uni), did some fruit picking (as unfortunately have I.. ) before he went to war. After the war he moved to London where he continued to understand his love for photography; from which he had since he was extremely young.

And from there it all took off.. he did amazing work for Vogue UK, France and several other publications. He also indugled his love for Australia by returning to work out a contract with Vogue Australia.

Below are a few snippets of his brilliance and some of my favourites. Now, where was I? Oh thats right.. trying to follow in his footsteps- working with Vogue! he he