Here is another editorial shoot by Herring and Herring published in D Mode magazine. The makeup is similar to the makeup of the Omo valley tribes, its a good example of how the omo valley tribe makeup can be translated into a fashion look.
I think I might try something like this experimenting with brighter colours on top of the white.
I decided to add in some images of Guiseppe Acrimboldo paintings that I have been looking at. He is an Italian painter who creates portraits made up entirely of fruits, flowers, fish or books. The paintings seem to have an element of the Surma and Mursi tribes about them.
While researching the Surma and Mursi Tribes I stumbled upon this editorial.Diamond in the Roughage, published in NY times T magazine in April 2011. The images were taken by photographer Richard Burbridge.
This is my favourite image, I love the shape the model has taken, it looks like a painting.
The editorial has taken the stylings of the Surma and Mursi Tribes to a new extreme. The images are fantastic, it could so easily of looked a mess but with the clever design and placement of different shrubery and flowers these photos really work.
I decided to try out a Surma tribe make-up look for myself.
I kindly asked my housemate to model for me!
I used my fingers to apply a clay mask in the pattern above to give the makeup more texture and to make it look more like the traditional makeup of a surma tribe.
I then painted over some areas using my Kryolan aqua colour palette.
I then created a flower headdress by weaving flowers together using wire. I chose orangey coloured flowers as these looked the most exotic.
I styled the look with a brightly coloured skirt that I found hiding in the back of my wardrobe and my most tribalistic looking necklaces (not the best styling I know but a girls got to make do). I really like the flower headdress, I am thinking about incorporating it into my final design. I am not so keen on the makeup though, I don't want my final look to be a copy of the surma tribe makeup, I just want to take elements of the look and translate them into my own ideas.
I have broadened my research to the tribes of the Omo Valley, the Surma Tribe being one of them! And I am now going to look at the type of accessories these tribes wear.
Dassanech Girl, photo by Eric Lafforgue
This girl's bottle top headdress is incredible, it must have taken her ages to collect all of those and put them all together like that!
This image is beautiful. The headdress looks like a mane, so many different materials have been used to put this together. Love the tusks!
Photo taken by Piper Mackay
The tribes of the omo valley seem to wear a lot of these small wooden beaded necklaces, layer upon layer. I love the headband in the image above it is really striking especially alongside this man's face paint. I also think this tribesman's headpiece is really interesting; it looks like a wig.
I recently went to the Warner Bros studio tour and whilst there I spotted these "Death Eater" masks. I was amazed by the intricate tribalistic patterns that were on them so I decided I had to take some pictures to put them in my blog!
Sorry about the glare, they were in a glass cabinet!
Below is a painting of a "Death eaters" mask that I found on my tour.
My favourite tribe to date has to be the Surma tribe of Southern Ethiopia. I love how this tribe uses elements of nature as inspration for their designs. The people of this tribe will paint their bodies to try to seduce fellow tribe members or to convey their mood/feelings at that particular time. They may paint their bodies many times in one day.
Surma Tribe people by Hans Silvester
The Surma Tribe use flowers as the muse for many of the colourful patterns they paint upon their skin. They use leaves and flowers around their faces to frame their abstract designs.
Surma Tribe child by Hans Silvester
This child's designs remind me of a Pablo Picasso's work in a small way, particular the one below. I think that the child's choice to colour the face in this way, using unusual shapes is what gives the design its similaritys to Picasso's work....I mean call me crazy but I can see it!
Femme au Chapeau a Fleurs ceramic by Pablo Picasso
Surma Tribe child by Hans Silvester
I love this little guy, he's so avant-garde, he's just stuck a couple of giant pea pods on his head! it's brilliant!
It really touches me how the Surma Tribe's designs are a projection of their inner selves, a way to express their life, I feel as if I am looking at thier souls!
This Hair style is incredible, it's actually more hair sculpting than a style. The hair is braided into 4 or 5 plaits, sometimes 3 if a family member has died. It is then smothered in a red paste that is made from crushed red stones, oil, cow dung, herbs and and ground down tree bark. When the paste dries it hardens to create the octopus like tentacles above. This hairstyle is traditionally worn by women in the Mwila tribe. The Mwila women shave the front of their hair to create a higher forehead as this is seen as beautiful in their culture. Beads, dried food and shells are added to the hairstyle as decoration.
The Mwila women wear heavy necklaces, each necklace corresponds to a period in their life. There are different coloured beads for different times in their life, they necklaces can never be taken off, they even have to sleep with them on....ouch!
Take a look at this video where members of the Mwila tribe have their photo taken by a tour operator, it shows many different Mwila tribe hairstyles and dress. Turn your volume down though, its very noisy!
This is a girl from the Himba tribe, Namiibia. Children of the Himba tribe wear their hair in 2 plaits and when they hit puberty these plaits are moved towards their face and over thier eyes and they may have more than 2. Once married the Himba women can have many plaits all over their head. If a man in the Himba tribe is single he will wear a single plait down his neck but if he is married his hair will be hidden under a turban. The hair designs are created in much the same way as the Mwila tribe, with a red paste being painted onto the designs, however the Himba tribe don't have any decorations in thier hair. A really like the design above as the hair has taken on the form of curly antlers.
This image shows the hairstyle of a married Himba woman. This hairstyle is kind of Medusa-like, I love the wooly tips of each dreadlock, it looks really interesting.
Some tribes shave their hair off, like this girl above from the Surma tribe. During ceremonies people of the Surma tribe decorate themselves with flowers and fruit, creating a kind of headdress.
Trials
In class we had a little play painting fullers earth onto the hair, to create a similar texture to that of the red paste that the Mwila and Himba tribe paint on their hair.
I then used my Aquacolour palette to paint some Tribalistic patterns onto the hair (Above).
So whilst looking at tribal tattoos I came across this....Tribal Scarification. I have to say I think Tribal scarification looks so much more interesting than the tribal tattoos. It looks like the patterns and pictures have spontaneously grown from within, rather than being put onto the skin. Obviously it hasn't as it is done by scaring but I just prefer the way it looks.
It is tradition in the Shulluk Tribe to have this tribal scarification along your brow line. It is to show that you are from the Shulluk tribe. It kind of looks a bit like a strange wart formation!
Love love love! this image, those eyes have so much feeling in them and the lighting is stunning, it captures all the detail of the scars on this African woman's face.
Trials
Here is my attempt at imitating Tribal Scarification, using Tuplast and my concealer palette-
The Tuplast was quite difficult to work with when trying to create just a small blob, as when I pulled the nib away it would create a trail off which I would then have to try and mould back into the blob-like shape.
Whilst researching tribal face tattoos I came across Nina Chakrabarti. Nina was born in Calcutta, India and moved to England in her teens where she studied illustration at Central St. Martins and then later in life at The Royal college of Art. What interested me about Nina's work is the intricate tribalistic designs she applies to images of the face and to her illustrations of shoes, clothing and jewellery.
soo....whilst looking at more illustrations by Nina Chakrabarti, I recognised some of the designs and realised that I actually have a book by her, namely "My EVEN MORE wonderful world of fashion". Here are some illustrations I found in the book in relation to the tribal theme-
These illustrations are amazing, Nina depicts every little detail in these sketches of tribal clothing and accessories. I particularly like the dress above which was hand crafted by the Lakota Tribe, it looks as if there are lots of different embelishments on the dress.
Here are some designs that I have done in the same style as Nina Chakrabarti -
I tried out aspects of one of my designs on one of my friends. Take a look -
I did the design free-hand however I wish I had a smaller brush to create thinner lines....I really must buy one!
