Culture

Under the skin of a body painter

By Jude Alefounder (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-18 09:25

A painted model poses in an unusual manner, adding a unique element to the already colorful style. [Photos provided to China Daily]

Some artists dabble with oil and canvas, while others prefer to carve into stone or shoot photos. One British artist in Beijing, however, has a different approach.

"I like to take people's personalities and twist them into something new through body painting. By changing their appearance, I can create a contradiction between their image and personality that is exciting and challenging," says 23-year-old artist Nina Griffee.

Griffee is one of the few artists in Beijing who is focusing her work on the art of body painting. Originally from Bristol in the UK, Nina came here as part of a life-long dream to explore Asia. "I have always wanted to spend time here and was in Japan since I was 12, so it was natural for me to end up in Beijing," she said.

Although she was an artist back in the UK, living in Beijing has allowed her to work more closely with professionals to develop her portfolio.

"I originally trained as a face painter in the UK and from that I got into body painting."

Griffee is keen to point out that face-painting and body painting "are not make-up - I'm not really into that side of it", but rather a separate artistic discipline. However, it was her work with her face painting boss that introduced her to body painting.

"She asked if I wanted to model and be painted as Spiderwoman. From that I immediately saw how I could do this myself - it really inspired me," she said.

After a few sessions of modeling, she got her boss to teach her the techniques of body painting. From there, Griffee worked with other body painters in the UK and saw how it could be developed into a business. This is something she has developed further since arriving in Beijing.

She said of her progress: "I wanted to develop my body painting to make it commercially viable and a business, rather than just a hobby. I've worked with more professionals here in Beijing, and the bookings have now started to come in."

One of the professionals she has worked closely with to develop her works is the photographer Prez Bankiewicz, who took the photos provided to China Daily. Whilst Griffee does the painting, Bankiewicz photographs her works to give them an extra dimension.

"Prez lets me get on with my painting and I don't question his photography work. This works well and now I work almost exclusively with him when taking images of my work," said Griffee.

As well as developing her portfolio of work on her website, Griffee has had her work used for a number of corporate and arts events. "I regularly provide body painted waiters and waitresses for events, as it is something unique that makes a real impact on guests."

Outside of these corporate events, Griffee is rapidly developing her own ideas about how to take body painting further and enhance the body of work that she describes as often being "dark and Gothic, as a mirror to the personality of the subjects I choose for each work".

Despite her increased exposure, developing a career as a body painter in Beijing is not without its difficulties. She is conscious that some people may be uncomfortable with the fact that those with painted bodies are often partially nude. Although this has made it difficult for her to find Chinese models, "with two volunteering and then backing out, meaning I haven't been able to do any work with Chinese models yet", most Chinese people at events have been impressed with the work.

"I think they were open-minded and had no problems with it. However, seeing it and taking part are two different things," she said.

For those who are interested in getting involved in body painting, Griffee advises that you "start in face painting, as this teaches you about how to apply paints on skin, and the hygiene aspect of it. It also helps you learn what works and what doesn't on different skin tones."