Milan-based make-up artist Jury Schiavi on club kids, creating 3D looks and the most difficult material to work with.
Perfect: What first inspired you to explore make-up?
Jury Schiavi: My interest in make-up started years ago being the roomie of the house who painted the face and brushed the hair of the girls before a night out, but really bloomed by discovering the world of drag (something that I think everybody should try once in their life). Thanks to that I decided to drop my old job and become a full time make-up artist.
Perfect: Who was your earliest inspiration for make-up artistry?
Jury Schiavi: From Leigh Bowery, Kabuki, the club kid scene from the ‘90s to Alex Box, Topolino and the iconic looks of Pat McGrath for Galliano in the early ‘00s,
Perfect: What is your creative process when planning a look?
Jury Schiavi: It really changes every time. Sometimes it’s a clear idea in my mind, sometime I start recreating the shape or the colour or the pattern of something I saw and I build the look around that.
Perfect: Your looks often include externally designed pieces and embellishments. What is the process of making these?
Jury Schiavi: If I see a shape or a texture that I like, I try to recreate that in a material that is congenial to be glued or saw on something to be incorporated inside the make-up look. I love to play with unconventional materials to see what I can create with them.
Perfect: What has been your most challenging look to date and why?
Jury Schiavi: Working with fresh flowers is always a challenge because so many things can go wrong, from them not sticking on the body cause they’re too wet and heavy or they disintegrate with a wrong touch.
Perfect: If you could do anyone’s make-up, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Jury Schiavi: That’s a tough question ‘cause I could say so many names. Maybe Marlene Dietrich. I’ve always been obsessed with her strong features and that gaze
Perfect: How would you describe your work?
Jury Schiavi: A trip between romantic and angelic to dark and twisted.
