Artist Spotlight Mark Boyer

by Alyssa Laube

Mark Boyer of 3BArtistry is a creative renaissance man. Under his company name, he works in set design, makeup artistry, body painting, and sculpting. It’s hard to imagine how someone could juggle so many professions without having a specialty, but that’s exactly what Boyer claims to be. In other words, he’s a jack of all trades in the art world. Although he’ll be partaking in the body painting competition at the Art World Expo, he doesn’t seem to limit himself to any one field. Instead, he views his combined talents as a single area of expertise.

“My specialty is actually blending all of [my skills],” he illuminated. “Whether I’m sculpting flesh wounds in silicone or clay, body painting someone green, or creating a wearable piece of art like a monster suit, it’s all a form of makeup to me. When it’s most powerful, the different elements all come together to make someone look beautiful, or different, or scary.”

All three of those adjectives perfectly describe 3Bartistry’s portfolio. His work with face and body paint focuses on changing the whole person to be something surreal and illusory. Almost every piece looks like something you’d find in a circus or haunted festival, though there are still times when a simple eyeliner-and-lipstick looks is also needed. The diverse talent coming out of 3BArtistry has also led Mark in another direction: working on film sets. This makes sense when attention is drawn to his latest goals.

“I’ve progressed towards special effects geared to the film industry, and one of my current projects is as a SPFX technician for film. When I’m not on set, I take gigs in everything else for variety and to keep my skills sharp. Plus,” he added, “I like to stay busy!”

Maybe that’s why he practices so many art forms in so many environments. Ten years ago, Boyer worked as a face painter and “wanted to gain a better sense of what [he] could do with makeup as a medium.” To satisfy this desire, he attended Complextions International (CMU College) and was excited by all of the opportunity he discovered. That excitement led him to Bodyssey, where he partook in his first body painting competition and met his now-girlfriend, Red Herring. After that, Boyer spent two years sculpting mascots and, finally, returned to freelancing with other forms of makeup.

Herring and Boyer collaborate on many of the looks produced by 3BArtistry. “We’ve been painting together for over 7 years. She knows my style and what I can do,” he added. “She likes to test my limits.” The back-and-forth between the two artists must contribute to what makes their art so unique. The audience is guaranteed to get something creative out of 3BArtistry at the body painting competition, as foretold by Boyer’s plans for the event.

“I’m thinking about a darker feel in the fairy world since my thoughts are moving closer to Halloween. Trolls, giants, and evil kings interest me so, unsurprisingly, I’m a huge fan of Tolkien, Brian Froud, and H.R. Giger. To start, I’ll pick out a character and a few ideas. Then i’ll dig through my house full of props and sketch out a body template design, but nothing specific. Sometimes I make significant changes once I get on-site.  At these competitions, I see a lot of great competitors out there and I like to challenge myself to create something unique. It will also come down to my models ability to live within my work; I have a few people in mind who are exceptional at acting and posing,” he contemplated. “Ideally, everything will work in harmony and I’ll be able to craft something that really wows the audience.”

Come see what 3BArtistry creates at the Toronto Art World Expo’s body painting competition!