Leila Goldkuhl in “Plasticity” by Paola Kudacki for Beauty Papers Magazine S/S 2016

Photographer: Paola Kudacki. Model(s): Leila Goldkuhl. Source: Beauty Papers. Stylist: Akari Endo-Gaut. Makeup: Mathias Van Hooff. Hair: Kevin Ryan.

Posted Mar 02, 2016

Leila Goldkuhl is bound by the beauty of truth in “Plasticity” shot by Paola Kudacki for Beauty Papers Magazine, S/S 2016. What am I covered in… what do I wear… who am being… am I aware. Skin is the house that I live in but empowerment is where I call home. The concept of cosmetic imagery sets forth a fusion of ideas, with pictures that question perfection. Asking us the most powerful inquiry of all – is the nature of beauty all in our heads? To understand this inquisition we have to get into the dark recesses of the mind. Where fear is merely a feeling, set to entice emotion equated to an expression. Lost in the labyrinth of lunacy there lives a kind of pseudo hope. A place where what we see doesn’t impose a line of thought rather it reflects the reality of being. Artfully portraying poetic intent, fashions aren’t meant to incite they inspire us to invite. Akari Endo-Gaut uses a series of nylon undergarments designed to evoke a sense of inclusion. If stories had sound this one would speak… responding to external stimulus we can feel the distribution of amplitudes among the interrelated cavities. Asking us to see the art in this moment, is begging us to bare witness to an extreme thing.

A see-thru spirit a clear-cut voice, Mathias Van Hooff reinvents the concept of makeup, by replacing pretty with power. Through neoprene plastic we make our way in, as orange/yellow pieces are placed over the skin. Light blue straps wrap around Leila’s features, leaving her lips stuck shut with a taped mouth gag. As clear strips make their way down the body, lining up in perfect form. A Vaseline like sheen spreads over the face as artful application deigns to take place. Strings are usually seen as indiscriminate things, but here they dig-in in the most aggressive way. Coiling, curling and spinning about this is the way in and the only way out. A spiraling monkey will play on my back til’ what I am seeking is on the right track. Find me you will on a cumbersome trail, fighting the powers that will me to fail. Makeup is seen in only one image, as a diagonal line screams over the eye as black creates faux lashes below. Paola asks us to see this not as it is, but to imagine the boundaries reset.