Lipstick By Stacy Greene
More than snap shot of lipstick
Stacy Greene is multidisciplinary artist who work with photography, painting, mixed media, video and film. Her work is often recognized from tapping into the personal and subconscious mind of people with ordinary cosmetic objects. Like a photograph series taken between 1991 and 1993 in the format of 20” x 24” catapults her well-deserved recognition in the art world. Each tube was giving difference name of the owner and which year it was taken. Prop up by the well-received public impression, this led her to later create thread of work in similar manner; extreme manicure, used perfume bottle etc.
“Growing up, my mother would always apply her lipstick in the mirror with a brush.” When asking about her fascination for lipstick during a conversation with Dazed. “She was a single parent, my father had died very young, so she was starting to date again. She would put on the lipstick with a little brush, and the one lipstick you might’ve seen – the Ellen one – that’s the one with a corkscrew, that’s applied with a brush. That’s why she keeps turning it around so she can use every aspect of the lipstick. That’s why it’s like a corkscrew as she’s using the brush. I would just stare up at her, watching her put on her make-up […] I used to wear red all the time in the 80s in New York because it felt powerful. It felt like you’re walking down the streets and it’s kinda like don’t mess with me. Look at me but don’t mess with me, with the red. And I liked that power statement.’’
After she picked up a lipstick dropped by her friend outside the Whitney Biennale and opened it to a strange looking tube with point bullet tip, it gives new inspirations for Greene and her friend to be on a look out to find the many characteristics in people lipsticks. “You have to ask people ‘show me your lipstick’ – it seems kind of intimate to even say that. And then they have to give up their lipstick and I always say, ‘I’ll buy you a new lipstick if I can have your old one.’” Said Greene. The connection she had with that lipstick evoke a sense of nostalgia buried deep hence fuel her desire to communicated and share that of her personal relationship with beauty “Rosie’s lipstick excited me more than anything I had seen at the Whitney.” She said jokingly over her quick encounter.
This series feature lipstick with its own unique quality; shaped tip indicating different technique of application, different shades of color, textures; small hair strand, dust, remnant of other lipstick shade to a little peek of the tube itself on the down corner; all have varied conditions. The object composition in front of blank background deliberately drawn viewer to first gravitate toward the whole object then to appreciating all the denoted small details over the vast span under its magnification. Relatebility in mind, she lets the object reveal itself, this allowing us to form deeper connection through not just toward the exterior of the object itself but exploring the lipstick as an extension of the user personality mirroring back at us.
Mass factory-produced item like lipstick will naturally merge to its user overtime yet it’s kind of beautiful consider its homogeneous quality after their methodical production. At the same time her work success shouldn’t come as surprise because ultimately, cosmetic or the act of grooming is ritualistic and personal yet we can’t deny that somehow the shared experience is globally felt. This aspect toward the partition of beauty often taken for granted, like our interaction with any lipstick; contemplating shades before buying or choosing the right one, the act of applying involve all the relationship we have with it and its process, subconsciously imprint part of ourselves onto the lipstick. And yes, this phenomenon can be applied toward another object too. Greene master the art of tapping into viewer psych so well and she does that with her unconventionality approach for her subject is something that should be applaud. This series proved to work so well that it still continues to shock and resonate with its encountered over 30 years, sparking discussion and jokes whether you are the owner of the well-beloved lipstick; Amy or Ellen; your distinctive way of applying is the result of it taking on its own sculptural shape before your eyes.
You can check more of her photo from this series or other works she produced here.