ohhhh menhdi!

Whilst having a quiet night in I thought to relieve my boredom by doodling all over my hand... I looked at the traditional way of marking the hands and feet with henna called 'Mehndi' They are temporary tattoos of intricate designs originated from India, commonly applied for weddings, religious festivals and other celebrations.

Instead of applying mine with henna ink i used a black biro, the lines that i achieved using the biro weren't ideal but I carried on none the less, if I were to repeat this process I would look into better materials to create more detailed lines. I like the look of this on the women's hands and after having it on my hand for a few hours I like it even more. They almost look like lace gloves....

Scarification

Scarification is the process of etching, scratching, chiseling, cutting or burning the skin in any way that will permanently alter the skin and leave a scar. Cicatrisation is a special form of burning or cutting the skin and then causing an irritation of the skin by applying a caustic plant juice, which forms permanent blisters.

Different patterns in scarification can symbolise a persons social, political and religious views; as well as being used to make people attractive!

In Papa New Guinea the Sepik tribes still use a traditional way of scarring the men's backs with the markings that resemble the crocodile. It symbolises a boys transition into manhood. Their backs are sliced open and then infected, with soot and clay and tree oil, whilst regularly washing the hundreds of wounds until they raise and leave permanent marks of the crocodile.

In class we interpreted the method of scarification using liquid latex, and small lentils, grains of rice, string etc. After coating the object you're going to use to create the scars in liquid latex, in my case i used split peas and rice grains, place them on the skin in a pattern. Dry the latex with a cool hairdryer and then cover the raised area in foundation to match the surrounding skin

rihanna and voodoo?

The video for Rihana's 'Where have you been' has a very tribal and voodoo sense to it. Some of the dancers have tribal tattoos painted on them, here are some screenshots from the behind the scenes videos featuring some inspiring body art and jewellery...

The idea of voodoo tribes has captured me and I want to look into this idea further, which led me to discover the Benin Voodoo festival! Held every year in west Africa it is a week long festival dedicated to voodoo, with brightly coloured voodoo dolls, costumes, dancing and chanting to drums.

Although most of the costumes cover their faces, the bright colours and patterns in the images below can provide good inspiration for a colour palette in my work.

tattooed images...

Using magazine pictures, we were asked to 'tattoo' the images with tribal patterns and prints.

When flicking through Company magazine i found a close up shot of a woman's mouth, i immediately thought of the traditional 'moko' that women have in the Moari culture. The coloured lips of Moari women were regarded highly in feminine beauty, and the small lines around the mouth were created using chisels and pigment made from soot and fat mixtures, leaving a permanent marking.

This is an interpretation of a female moko from the moari culture, the picture below is 'A girl's head from Furmont D'Urville's "Voyages".' which is what my interpretation of the moko is based upon. 

The Kondh women of India have markings on their faces that identify them to each other so that they are able to recognise one another in the spirit world after death. The markings are geometric and particular to the tribe. Below i adapted Daphne Groeneveld's Dior addict campaign image with the markings of the Kondh tribe.

Lastly I was highly intrigued by and image of a child from the Yine tribe in Peru. The geometric lines around the bottom half of the face in blue ink creates a menage of angular shapes. I particularly like the colouring on the hands with the blue ink, the finger tips and palms are coloured and have the appearance of little blue gloves. I used a biro to manipulate a Max Factor advertisement with the lines of the Yine tribal markings.

Wild Kingdom

The brief for this project requires two images; one for catwalk, and one for an editorial campaign. I'm so excited to work with the idea of 'Wild Kingdom', 'Tribal and Physical transformation' gives a great variety of influences to develop ideas from.
The many groups of different tribes all over the world can all contribute to my final images, however eventually i wish to focus my work on just a few so that i can portray the tribal markings close to their original meanings.

Today you can see tribal influences everywhere, music videos, fashion campaigns, tattoos, clothing, catwalk makeup....  I love it! Throughout my project i will look at modern and traditional ways of marking the body, through tattooing, painting, piercing and stretching.