Gabe Bartalos' twisted talent

SMILE: Gabe Bartolos with one of his warped creations. Photo / Supplied

After seeing some of the sick and twisted creations Gabe Bartalos comes up with you can't help but wonder what that says about him as a person.

"I don't think we should look too deeply into that," laughs the Hollywood makeup and prosthetics artist who specialises in horror effects.

There's his gruesome yet hilarious Brain Man - think a guy with an afro brain hair cut - that he created for his debut feature film, Skinned Deep; his strange and often graphic work with avant garde film and video artist Matthew Barney (the boyfriend of Icelandic musician Bjork); and then there's his warped and demented version of the Cat In the Hat.

Bartalos is in New Zealand this week judging the NZ Body Art Awards on Saturday at the Bruce Mason Centre alongside Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor.

While he doesn't blame his parents for his disturbing imagination, he reckons they have a lot to answer for.

"They were doctors. They probably had me and my brothers destined for medical school, and growing up we had anatomy books around, and weird pharmaceutical promotional things, like companies would send them lung ash trays, and skulls and knee joints."

So combine this "inner glimpse of the human anatomy" with a love of film - horror films especially - and his career choice was set from an early age.

Although, says the 45-year-old, he's self-taught in the art of makeup and special effects because when he got interested in "monsters and makeup" it was not a booming industry.

It only started to develop and take off in the early 80s with the work of pioneers like Rick Baker (An American Werewolf In London, 1981) and Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, 1980).

Bartalos believes the Oscar-winning creations of Baker in American Werewolf showed off the skill and science behind makeup and transformation effects.

"It was one of those films that was popular, and easily digestible, while also showcasing effects. It left quite an impression on me," he says.

Bartalos set up his company, Atlantic West Effects, more than 20 years ago working in the Hollywood horror film industry. His work has featured in films such as 1993's Leprechaun (which starred Jennifer Aniston before she was famous) and the low-budget cult comedy horror Basket Case film series.

He says while he's inspired by many great artists like Baker and Savini he has his own unique style that comes through.

"When I run it through my Gabe blender it comes out as something unique."

And this style, apart from being a little sick and twisted of course, can best be described as surreal. "It goes to a place that is at times horrifying but I don't want people to turn away too long, so I want it a little repellent but also playful."

At the moment he's working on a character who is metamorphosed into a creature made out of musical instruments.

"They are literally jutting out of his orifices and fusing with his skin in a very uncomfortable balance of human anatomy and a new skin of brass and string instruments."

You can tell he's excited about it and because of its complexity, with five stages of makeup and combining animatronics and puppetry, he rates it as one of his masterstokes.

"And I haven't seen a man turn into a music monster before, which is why I'm doing it."

LOWDOWN

Who: Gabe Bartalos
What: Makeup and special effects artist specialising in scary monsters
Where & when: The NZ Body Art Awards, Bruce Mason Centre, 7.30pm, Saturday

-TimeOut