This year's Body Art awards show taxes the painters' imaginations as much as it taxes
their brushwork, writes Sharu Delilkan.
Experienced body art model Julian Bartram enjoys being on the other side of the bodypaint brushes so much he's entering the NZ Body Art Awards.
Having only recently tried his hand at painting,
he acknowledges he's caught the bug in a big way.
The husband of award-winning body artist Yolanda Bartram, Julian, who has been her body art model and worked in sales for her business, BodyFX, says he decided to have a go at doing the artwork only after body artists overseas encouraged him do it.
This is NZ Body Art Awards' fifth year. There's a theme for each show; this year's is Incredible India and A Play on Words.
Believing that India's Hindu gods would be popular with competitors, Julian made a concerted effort to produce one that no one would expect and with as much artistic imagination as possible.
"I knew a lot of people would be looking to create Kali, the Indian god with 10 hands, so I trawled the internet and did extensive research in the library before deciding on Skanda, the war god of Hindu mythology."
Factoring in Paravani, the peacock that Skanda rides, Julian has created a peacock headpiece and its legs for his model.
After putting in many hours sewing on peacock feathers and sculpting the gold peacock head-dress, the Otahuhu artist says he knows he'll be extremely proud of what he's achieved when he pulls it off.
"One thing good about having Yolanda around is that she makes me do everything properly. It makes the difference between something that looks okay and looking extremely hot."
His modelling experience has helped Julian train his model, Travis Hart, to be the haughtiest Indian War God he could possibly be.
"It's all about convincing the audience and having the right attitude."
Body of work
2010 NZ Body Art Awards, Bruce Mason Centre, The Promenade, Takapuna, Oct 2, 7.30pm. Tickets: ph 970 9700 or see www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Details see www.bodyartawards.co.nz
