ANTH 452 - My Study of Expressive Culture
By Emma Coleman
More Than Just Art
The beauty of each and every folklore expression under the umbrella of material, customary and verbal, is that they all tell a story. Whether that be through the act of storytelling, or through the passing down of a ritual, or even through creating art, like a makeup look, it all tells a story. A makeup look can tell a story about that person, what they've been through, and even what's going on in their community. In the example of Carmela's transition to bolder eye looks, that is indiciative of something larger going on. Carmela didn't start to wear bolder looks just for kicks, although that is also possible. That transition was caused by COVID, and the social and moral obligation to wear masks.
In researching this idea, I was reminded of the reading we had on Walloon puppet theaters. Within these theaters there's an atmosphere conducive to art, and the appreciation of art. In my mind, I can relate that to makeup artists as well. During COVID, these artists made their platform YouTube, and it became their atmosphere more than it had before. The appreciation of their art is shown through posts, and the comments they receive.
In a mask-friendly makeup tutorial by Madison Kate, she spoke about featuring her eyebrows more during this time. She says it helps balance the starkness of the mask against the lower half of one's face.