AU Magazine Issue 3

FEATURED
ELIZABETH PETROU MAKES IT HER PREROGATIVE TO
TRANSFORM THE HUMAN BODY INTO A CANVAS,
GIVING “BODY OF WORK” A WHOLE NEW MEANING.
LAST YEAR SHE STAGED BODY PAINTING
exhibits in galleries, with each installment exposing another taxing
social issue. In the first, she touched on the economic
crisis of Greece. Using inspirations to influence her ideas
and opinions, she turned two people into statues, which
bore strong historical references to Greek history. She
painted them into bleeding figurines, mourning for the difficult
conditions that humans had to live with in each
passing day. This is Elisabeth Petrou, a professional makeup
artist of almost three years from Greece, who in the past
year and a half has branched into the field of body paint.
As a child, her passion and interest in experimenting with colors and
painting materials led her to eventually choose a profession that used
her creativity.
“I love make up artistry because I can express my ideas and
inspirations on the human body. I am drawn to the human body
as a canvas for my art because each body has a unique shape.
With my art I can demystify the human body and allow it to be
re-visualized. Because of this, I prefer to paint on a real canvas—the
naked human body. This is the perfect way for me to communicate my
art to the crowd and allow them to see a simple body in a new way.”
Her inspirations are centered on controversial topics in
society such as economic crisis, poverty, violence, homosexuality,
environmental waste, and use of technology. Another exhibit called
L’objectos personas featured her transforming two people into
furniture pieces and placing them in a living room. The man was
painted into a table lamp and the woman, a table. For this piece she
hoped to symbolize how dependent humans are on the material world.
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