Helsinki-based illustrator Janine Rewell presents an impressive Body Painting project in collaboration with Finnish shoe designer Minna Parikka.
Despite its ancient origins, body painting remains an overlooked from of art, largely because it is very difficult to execute certain ideas, and very easy to go awry in the wrong hands. However Janine Rewell seems have all the right skills and ideas to make it work. She already has a some impressive illustration work under her belt, and it seems she was the ideal partner to use her skills to showcase the latest shoe collection by fashion designer Minna Parikka in a unique way.
The project theme was “Body Painting and Scandinavian Spring” hence the vivid vibrant colors. The idea came about as Janine pondered the possibilities of what she perceived as an under-explored art form in body painting. Minna Parikka, who had worked with Rewell before, was excited to showcase the footwear from her spring collection in such an innovative way, recognizing how the sensation of putting on a lovely pair of shoes could be represented by the magical, transformative effect of Janine’s designs.
Taking geometric patterns inspired by Minna’s designs, Janine applied them to the bodies of several models and then shot them using similarly patterned fabrics as a background, thus creating a beautiful advertising campaign that is as striking as it is technically impressive.
She explains: “I have wanted to use the body as a canvas for my designs for a long time already. When I started researching about body-painting I noticed that as an art form and as a technique it’s still quite marginal, and it hasn’t really been used in the field of fashion and design.”
The killer geometric designs applied to the skin by Janine Rewell in conjunction with great color combinations and the photographers’ carefully selected angles produce a stunning outcome. Not gratified with confining their work to the studio, Janine Rewell and Minna Parikka concluded their beautiful ad campaign with a window display of painted dancers as a promotional event for the shoe collection launch, taking place at Helsinki high street.
You can enjoy Minna and Janine’s inspiring work in the photo gallery below, and watch their collaborative process in the brilliant video by Rasmus Wilén.
