Krista Walker – Makeup Artist

Krista Walker's Instagram feed features so much of her elaborate artwork, it's hard to believe the 17-year-old finds the time to produce it, especially as she has to wash it all off afterwards.

From bejewelled eyes and neon feather duster lashes to terrifying zombies with stitched-together skin, Walker is happy for her make-up art to be both beautiful and ghoulish.

“As a kid I had buckets of paints and pencils, so gradually as I got older I just changed to doing it on myself instead of a canvas or paper. It’s definitely more 'art' than trying to look prettier or change how I look. It’s like transforming me or a model into an art piece,” the Darwin High student tells Off The Leash.

Walker started posting her other-worldly make-up on Instagram and began quickly building a whole new skill set in visual media.

“I’ve learned lots of Photoshop and photography skills from doing it. It all just combines into the one final product.”

It also got her a job at a local beauty salon and work in youth theatre productions.

Inspired by visual artists on Instagram as well as music videos, Walker uses professional cosmetic body paint and glitter, producing her creations after school or for photography assignments at Darwin High, where there’s no shortage of willing models.

“I definitely want to work in theatre and movies,” she says.

“To make my own cosmetic line would be a big dream…Lots of cosmetic companies don’t have a big range of colours, they’re not very experimental. Something business and make-up related would be amazing.”

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