Have you ever wanted to be someone else? The Character Studies delves into the lives and narratives of various fictional female personas, exploring themes of vulnerability, anti-heroism, and personal discovery. Each photograph is a self-portrait, transformed through the medium of special effects makeup to alter my appearance into anyone but my true self. Through these characters, I aim to highlight the resilience of the female spirit while critiquing and reimagining stereotypical female archetypes found in popular cinema.

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        I’m particularly drawn to the horror genre, as it offers endless possibilities for grotesque, exaggerated, and distorted representations of the human form. By using the female body and special effects makeup as my subjects, I explore themes of human fragility, mutability, and the potential to transform into something—or someone—beyond the human. These transformations often evoke a fascination with the alter-ego, blending fear with dark humor and disgust.

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        The Character Studies symbolizes women reclaiming their narratives from the confines of popular culture, asserting control over how their stories are portrayed in visual media. As a critique of the cinematic trope where female characters often die in horror films, each image is accompanied by deep explorations of the female subject’s life through fictional scripts, news articles, or obituaries. A great deal of my energy was devoted to crafting distinctive identities and worlds for each character: alterations of individuality created through special effects makeup, contextual settings, and styling/prop design.