Jamie Marshall: A Full Face

Artist Statement

WHO ARE YOU? What makes you different than the person next to you and what have you done to celebrate those parts of you?

“A Full Face” will take you on a path of self-expression and individualism within the queer community through the art of drag performers. Through each image, you get to gain an understanding of each performer’s personality and how they have chosen to celebrate it. Don’t forget that these performers are more than someone who gets dressed up, puts on makeup and performs on a stage or in their bedroom, there is also a person who lives under each outfit who also deserves to be celebrated just as much.

As a queer individual myself, it is important that queer people can see work that allows them to discover who they are.

Q+A

Describe how you envision the end result of your project. If it is a work in progress please indicate your planned completion date.

My final project is going to consist of 70 – 100 drag performers in a large coffee table book. It’ll have a larger-than-life feel like many of the individuals included in the series

What inspired you to create this project?

Being a queer individual is a lot of what inspired me. However, by getting the chance to see drag events I can watch and appreciate their art and I wanted to bring them into my art form of photography. Every single performer in this series has inspired the project. They got to choose their outfits and they did their makeup, and by working together we were able to capture them in each of their poses.

Describe any challenges you faced creating this project, and the solutions that helped you to overcome these problems.

A large issue I faced was with organizing so many different schedules and making it work with the limited access to space and equipment. My solution was to use a Google form to get each person’s availability and then I made it work with what the school could provide. 

What are you most proud of about this project?

The aspect that I am most proud of in this project is the results of the makeup transfers. In my final presentation, I have makeup transfers of each performer’s makeup on a makeup wipe. The uniqueness of each wipe speaks volumes about the uniqueness of each performer.