“I just think that ‘beautiful’ and ’pretty’ have limits,” the make-up artist and beauty exec tells AnOther as she debuts her latest project, a horror short created with WePresent
Isamaya Ffrench is one of the most gifted storytellers in the beauty industry, and she isn’t afraid to get ‘ugly’. Impish elves, glam rock aliens, sci-fi sentinels, and terrifying monsters – as well as a myriad of other captivatingly strange creatures – form a darkly whimsical output that celebrates the alternative possibilities of beauty.
This week, the global beauty director of Burberry and former creative director of Dazed Beauty unveils her latest project: a hair-raising Halloween film created in collaboration with WePresent, titled My New Flesh. Shot by Japanese-Brazilian filmmaker Rodrigo Inada, the chilling short sees Ffrench shape-shift into four terrifying characters. According to the makeup artist, they were inspired by “creatures that are active at night; a bat, an octopus, a spider, and two insects who fall in love and die.”
Using custom prosthetics and costumes, the haunting film moves between scenes of a slippery tentacled-Ffrench writhing in a bathtub, to shots of her hanging from the ceiling as a human-bat hybrid, nesting in a gargantuan spider’s web, and dancing in twitchy yet romantic movements as part of an insect couple.
“Prosthetics always seem to repeat themselves – gore, alien, zombies – so I wanted to create something extreme that hasn’t been seen before,” the make-up artist tells AnOther, explaining the creative process behind the film’s characters. “I worked closely with a sculptor to create unique face and body designs for each character. The most minute details were taken into account and I worked closely with all the creative team – from set and styling, to nails and the director – to create an entire world.”
“Most people think I’m into horror, but not really!” Ffrench continues. “I just think that ‘beautiful’ and ’pretty’ have limits. There is so much more to work on with the ugly and grotesque. I love things that are compelling, repelling, and freakish. I love the idea of people who stop to look at a picture or a video to ask themselves if they like it or not and why. You can experiment without any boundaries.“
Watch WePresent x Isamaya Ffrench: My New Flesh below.