Makeup is a beautiful and awe-inspiring art form. It is a tool in which one’s body is a canvas. Choate’s opportunities for visual artistic creativity such as Art Club, In Moda, and of course the visual art classes are treasured among the visual artists. What about those whose medium is makeup? Fifth formers Abigail Rivas, Ellie Kim, and Jade Watson started a club to exhibit their passion. Kim explains that “Our mission is to use makeup beyond its everyday use and employ it more artistically and creatively as like an outlet, like a different form of art.” Kim also described that “Art is endless. There are unlimited options for however you want to do it. We are just using our face and our bodies as a canvas.”
Makeup club has already created one magazine, held a photo-shoot, and figured out plans for the future. They intend to reach out to the Choate community to find more people than those who are currently in the club. Future plans include producing more magazines, choreographing performance art, and holding a backlight SAC Dance. The future project will provide backlight paint. To this, Kim says with a smile, “We’ll all be glowing.” Like all forms of art, makeup can be used to create a statement or spark change.
Makeup club has not fully committed to a specific idea of protest art, but Kim has some very powerful thoughts. “My personal idea is drawing quotes and words on bodies about what people say commenting out. For instance, on my shoulders I could write ‘too revealing’,” she said. Photographers can also contribute to this. Kathryn Phillips ’20 has mainly taken the photographs for this club.
Kim wants to emphasize that one does not need to have experience with makeup to contribute to this club. She says, “We are not using makeup in the traditional sense like ‘do a winged eyeliner’ or ‘apply mascara’. You can do whatever you want with it, you can be abstract. It’s art so there are no rules.”
