A couple weeks ago at a music festival, I couldn't help but notice the widespread fashion of face paint. And not your typical butterfly, or childish cat whiskers, it was more in the likes of dots, lines and squiggles. Being the nerd that I am, I researched this. Because fads usually start somewhere sensible, and then they are poked and pulled out of their original purpose. Whilst looking up the meanings of the war paint in native cultures, I surprisingly learn't a lot! For instance, Each colour represents a different emotions, or quality about the person wearing it. It mean't different things to whether you wore the colours on your face or your body. For instance, the colour green on a persons body symbolized endurance. But it was also believe that green dots placed under a persons eyes would provide that person with immense vision. During special ceremonies or celebrations, different colours were worn to symbolize the reason they were celebrating. Different shapes were drawn on the skin to provide the wearer with 'magic' and these shapes included lines, circles and triangles. Maybe the hipsters did their homework this time!
My favourite colour, and meaning that I read about had to be the white paint. White paint, throughout all the tribes meant the same thing. In face paint, it symbolized light, purity, and peace. But when used as war paint, symbolized mourning. I loved the connection between these two meanings. Mourning, yet being at peace. It's just beautiful, even though I'm sure the natives were not at peace during the times of war, but for me, finding this connection was just lovely. So I decided to take some pictures with face paint. And because I did my homework, you're not allowed to call me a wanna-be-soft-grunge-gross-indie chick, because I painted my face full well knowing what I was trying to symbolize. Here's a shot I really liked:
Thanks for reading! Much love,
Sierra
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