Artist Magdalena O'Connor and her lotus creations A number of gay and lesbian artists and performers are among those who will compete for glory at the New Zealand Body Art Awards in October. The event pits the leaders in the unique craft against each other in a battle of airbrushes, paintbrushes and prosthetics. New Zealanders are among the world's leaders in the temporary art; Aucklander Yolanda Bartram recently won the Supreme Award at Austria's World Body Painting Festival, while Carmel McCormick has turned heads across the globe with her body painting in the infamous Air New Zealand ads. Lesbian artist Magdalena O'Connor has been entering the Body Art Awards since they began in 2006. The 28-year-old has picked up a number of prizes over the four awards so far, including first place in the prosthetic masks section in 2008. She painted a male and female pair with a yin lotus inspired theme for the event's media launch this week, saying she wanted something "beautiful and sparkly and gold and red," simply because she loves the colours. O'Connor is entering the mask section in this year's awards, but as the event is very competitive she is keeping her plans close to her chest. Christian Rangi Gay performer Christian Rangi adores being body painted and is modelling once again because he loves being onstage. "It's one of my passions and it makes me feel very uplifted. I love to project and act and entertain, as well as I can- and people love the show." Being a body art model requires much patience, as the process can take up to eight hours. "I love standing in a g-string in the middle of winter getting painted all over for eight hours - and strutting it for two minutes," he laughs. The theme for 2010 is Incredible India. Tickets are on sale from http://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/ Saturday 2nd October 2010 Bruce Mason Centre, The Promenade Takapuna, North Shore City www.bodyartawards.co.nz
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 22nd August 2010 - 3:31pm