April 21st, 2015
It’s fair to say that Ellis Faas is one of our favourite conceptual make-up artists and we were lucky enough to interview the lady herself in 2013. Brought to international attention by none other than Mario Testino, Ellis Faas originally dreamed of being a photographer. The most celebrated Dutch artist since Van Gogh and with a love of special effects setting her apart from the pack, she continues to break new ground with her eponymous range based on the universal spectrum, colours that exist in the human body and complement every skin tone, age and style.
Products aside, it’s the stunning make-up photography that draws you to Ellis and her new book, On the Edge of Beauty which is 64 pages of pure artistic brilliance. The book presents an example of Ellis Faas’ work as a make-up expert and artist; an audacious and imaginative visual adventure, that challenges the status quo, sparks creativity, and provides inspiration on the daring and innovative world of beauty.
It’s typical of the art of Ellis Faas to question and destabilise the rules and expectations of the beauty industry, to explore definitions and push boundaries of beauty. So while adopting traditional tools and techniques of the trade, she attempts with this book, to transcend the industry’s restrictions, the idealised sense of perfection and the tendency towards global uniformity.
To this end she makes use, in turn, of visual exaggeration, irony, surrealism, distortion and fantasy. By investigating the relationship between the everyday and the extraordinary, she creates her own spectacular vision that casts a new light on the familiar, established aesthetics. It is truly a thing of beauty and well worth the investment.
ellis faas – on the edge of beauty £13.00
makeup and photography ellis faas copyright © 2009-2015
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