If you were at the recent cosplay event Animekon, you would have seen some astonishing transformations.
The talented hands responsible for many of them are Mandy Cummins.
The self-taught special effects make-up artist was in the cosmetic industry for over 14 years but recently got into prosthetics. Before she started adding acrylics and latex to cosplayers at Animekon, she owned a face-painting booth.
The visual artist honed her craft from schooldays at Harrison’s College. That skill naturally flowed into her love for make-up and every time one of her friends went out, Mandy was the go-to girl to get the face done right.
She recalled watching television with her dad and asking him if people really died in movies and it was there her love for special effects blossomed.
She was one of the first make-up artists in Barbados to dabble in latex sculpting and admitted that it was still a learning process for her. Her dream is to attend Cinema Makeup School in Florida to further advance her skills and be regionally and internationally known for her craft.
One of her challenges on a daily basis is thinking outside the box. After doing beauty make-up for so long she is constantly trying to create characters without the human anatomy being noticeable.
For a multifaceted woman who is also into costuming, she loves playing a behind-the-scenes role. She did the make-up and wardrobe for the wolf and witch in Operation Triple Threat’s adaptation, Into The Woods, and helped develop sets for the movie Caribbean Dream.
Mandy said special effects was a developing industry in Barbados and highlighted that sourcing material was tough.
“Products can be temperamental and if you make a mistake then you waste product. That is like death because you cannot get them back with ease. So experimenting can be problematic in that regard for self-taught artists because you are dealing with materials not readily accessible in Barbados and bringing them in can be quite expensive.”
However, in order to improve her skills and learn new techniques, Mandy would bite the bullet and pay the cost for experimenting. She said self-taught artists had to conduct experiments in order to perfect putting on bald caps, making silicone moulds, blending and making seams seamless.
Cummins, who really wants to be a special effects artist, also said make-up was a critical element in film and if more people got into special effects, such as local videographers, they would expand their ideas.
“I would like the industry to get as big as it can,” she said. “It’s a viable art form and it would also benefit our movie industry. And I realise people are envisioning ideas because this type of make-up is available. They are willing to try new things and test out their ideas, which is always fun.” (SB)
