The Tiger Story at First Night Morris 2014

Jan3

There was this nice photo of two participants in my story, “The Tiger That Went to the House of the Sun”, in a web article by Kevin Coughlin about First Night Morris 2014. I did two performances of StoryFaces at one site, and we had our Transformation facepainters at a second site. Here’s what Kevin wrote about our part of the event:

But one new twist that proved a hit was an early 5 pm start for kids activities that included StoryFaces (a combination of storytelling and face-painting), LEGO building, and arts and crafts.

“We’re having such a great time, and really looking forward to the face-painting,” Carol Hueston of Morris Plains said on New Year’s Eve, as her 6-year-old twins Cory and Jade diligently worked on New Year’s crowns in the Morristown High School cafeteria.

“We’ll definitely be back next year,” said Long Hill resident Josephine Infante-Meehan, whose children Mossino, 9, and Francesca, 12, sported magnificent African jungle scenes painted on their faces by Christopher Agostino of StoryFaces. Francesca said she had no intention of ever washing away the artwork.

Colorful visages weren’t just for youngsters, however. Charlie Qiao, a 24-year-old student at the Stevens Institute of Technology, also had a wondrous paint job, along with his friends, Sandie Song and Sophia Liang. “This is very good,” said Charlie, a native of China, enjoying his first First Night. “It’s a wonderful experience.”

There’s also a photo of Charlie, Sandie and Sophia in the article slideshow – see the full article at:

http://morristowngreen.com/2014/01/02/first-night-morris-2014-definitely-in-the-black-director-says/

As Kevin mentioned, having my show at 5:00 was an earlier start for the event than previous years, and I wasn’t surprised to see only a few people at my venue in the High School as I got set to start. So I began the show in an intimate style of storytelling, with smaller tales for a small audience, and then continued to expand the performance with people entering the room in waves as shuttle buses arrived. By the end of the first show the room was SRO and I could do the Tiger Story, which is designed for larger audiences. Maybe the sense of being inundated by waves led to my starting the second show immediately after the first with the tale about the Ocean coming to visit the house of the Sun and the Moon. Learn more about Christopher Agostino’s StoryFaces

After the shows, I joined Lorraine and Pat who were facepainting at another part of the event. My favorite face of the evening was another version of the golden angel I’ve been painting this year. We painted as many adults as kids, including adults who were there without kids and just wanted to have the fun of being transformed on their way into the New Year.

StoryFaces and Body Painting at NYSATA 2013 (thestorybehindthefaces.com)
Before Cave Walls… at the National Storytelling Network Conference 2012

BodyStory Video Experiment 1 — Peacock and the Sun Goddess

Jan31

BodyStory Video Experiment 1 — Peacock and the Sun Goddess

The Peacock and the Sun Goddess BodyStory was an experiment for a class presentation at the Face and Body Art International Convention in 2012 (FABAIC). For my class on storytelling I tried out a new idea (new for me – see below) of taking the methods I use for telling a story via facepainting onto a painted body — using a fully painted body in choreographed movements to accompany my narrative. I had done this with several performers and much assistance to perform the story Li Chi Slays the Dragon as part of our Bodies Alive! production at FABAIC 2008, but that felt more like a theatre piece and this was meant to stay closer to the stylistic quality of storytelling.

The Peacock and the Sun Goddess BodyStory was conceived and presented as a live performance. As the concept seems well designed for video I took the fotos and video we’d made as documentation and created this video in iMovie. (The wonderful music is Indian Fever by David Starfire, which I found on the album “Six Degrees Free Indian Music Sampler” on Amazon. The model was a non-professional, so I’ll withhold her name) The next step in the video experiment will be to create a BodyStory design specifically for video, and explore what is possible without the design limitations inherent in a live performance.

See the BodyStories Page to learn more about other BodyStory projects, including “Is This the First Story?” based on an 18,000 year old cave painting.

To be clear, nothing in art is ever truly new—especially in an art form as ancient as bodypainting. In saying that these experiments feel “new for me” I’m not saying that I’ve invented something here. Aboriginal Australian bodypainting may go back 40,000 years in a continuous line and in some cases, particularly in the context of ritual initiations, their bodyart tells complex mythological tales (to name just one precedent). Nothing is new.

To learn more about our programs and performances: http://www.agostinoarts.com

Bodies Alive! — painted body performance at FABAIC 2008
Zebras — Body Painting at FABAIC 2012 with Kryolan Aquacolors
Van Gogh Starry Night — Body Painting at FABAIC 2012 with Kryolan Aquacolors
Saraswati — Body Painting at FABAIC 2012 with Kryolan Aquacolors
Gator Eating Jose: UV Body Painting at FABAIC 2012 with Kryolan Aquacolors
Painted Bodies: Africa – Video of Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher (thestorybehindthefaces.com)

The 2012 Unique Art Awards

Sep21

I am honored to say I have been nominated for an award by the Society of Unique Artists. I’m one of 5 finalists in the category of Unique Painting, and the winner will be announced at the Unique Art Awards event on September 29 in New York. Upon my nomination I was asked to submit a portfolio for the judges’ consideration, which I am posting here, including this short video artist statement: