“…we don’t have to look the way we were born I think, and makeup is that one way of helping you reach your potential of what you feel you should look like. Whether you are a boy and you feel you should look like a girl or if you have bad skin and you want to change the way you look.”
Beginning to tell herstory with makeup, makeup artist Orli Meiri expresses, “I was born with a birthmark and I only started covering it when I was 16 and each year started that journey with makeup because it was like ‘how do I get it to look more natural and how can it last the whole day without piling it on?’. It just started this whole journey of how it let me be more confident. It’s weird because I don’t want to look like everyone else but I also don’t want to stand out for the wrong reason. I think there is a double-edged sword I guess it makes me a slight hypocrite but at the same time I feel like that is what makeup is. I could stand out because I want to wear blue eyebrows but it’s still my choice.”
Determined to curate the images from her imagination into striking otherworldly visuals, Orli knew that she wanted to work in the film industry. Growing up in the suburbs of Joburg she did not have much opportunity to play outside rather spending time by herself and letting her imagination blossom. Completing a makeup artistry and special effects course at Kohl she expresses that it helped her with the basics and know-how but that she picked up most of her knowledge from shadowing and being on set with her mentors.
On Lampost’s ‘Rise’ since last year June, she has progressed to the agency’s main board in less than a year and is now sharing a spot amongst her mentors. “I think my whole career has been this impatience to be as good as my seniors and to stand out for my work.”
Expressing her desire to take things further than she sees them being expressed in the field she states, “I don’t want to just make people look normal I want to push, I want to push those boundaries.” She does however believe that makeup is not needed to make a person look beautiful and that confidence is what radiates most. A hand that is Avant-Garde in its execution, she has a particular interest in working with special effects, hoping to alter the human face into an alternative shape.
Everything is not as instant as social media would have you believe is the message that she voices to people with an interest to start out in the industry. Orli’s career was built up over a long time as most others, where she assisted, did free work, anything she could to make sure that she got to be on set. Her biggest take away from 2018 was to not seek validation from others as she expresses that if you do you will never be happy.
Her wish is to be taken into more consideration throughout the conceptualization process for projects, and feels that makeup is often an afterthought for creative collaborators. “I don’t understand that because makeup is, it goes hand in hand with fashion, it is fashion.”
Conversation. Oils. Scents employed to make her sitter feel more at ease. A deep understanding of the human psyche. The psychology of makeup.
Inspired by music the pigment painter is able to construct images from listening to sound.
To keep up with Orli’s work follow her on Instagram
Makeup by Orli Meiri
Makeup by Orli Meiri
Makeup by Orli Meiri
Makeup by Orli Meiri
