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Every human
culture uses masks, make-up and body art as a way to
transform an individual’s identity — whether for ritual, theatre,
fashion or just for fun.
Beginning with the
Congo event at the Bronx Zoo, our company has been researching
and developing facepainting styles based on traditional art
from around the world. We paint these faces now as part of our
general repertory and feature them for special events with cultural
or international themes.
The painted faces of
Chinese Opera or Japanese Kabuki Theatre; the face and body
decorations of indigenous people living today in Papua New Guinea
and the Amazon; the paintings of Plains Indians by George Catlin;
the incredible photographs from the 1970’s of the painted bodies
of the Nuba in Africa — these are the masterpieces of the art
of facepainting. As artists, we are students of these images
we see in photographs and museums. They educate and inspire
us. They bring a depth to our work that helps to elevate our
facepainting beyond being just an entertainment for children.
By bringing these faces to the public in a
modern context we keep alive the traditions that are the foundation
of this art of transformation. |
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