Make-up artist Danielle Fonseca's work represents what fashion dreams could be all about. With a vision that embraces sensuality, artistry, splendor, admiration and transformation of the human appearance, she is able with her work to touch our secret wishes for freedom of the body and mind.
Born in Manhattan in 1978, her family relocated to White Plains in Manchester where she spent most of her childhood. "My artistic ability was something I honed from a very early age," she says. At 16 she began working at a fine and performing arts summer center (at where she now art directs and teaches) and also where she learned stage make-up from Broadway actors and actresses.
Through her five years at SUNY New Paltz receiving a BFA in Painting and BS in Art Ed., she became more influenced by installation artists such as Cindy Sherman, Matthew Barney, and David La Chappelle. She was also influenced by Spencer Tunic who took the nude form and forced an audience to see it as beauty in a public place, where even in NYC, it was considered taboo.
She describes her early days:" After school I had one big show for my painting in the city, but even after selling a few pieces I felt that were other endeavors I had not embarked on that I needed to explore in order to wet my appetites for new mediums. I started working for MAC right after 9/11 hoping to further explore my love of make-up. For two years I sculpted my skills as a make-up artist, working on projects with MAC, and doing test work with various photographers. When the MAC Deck of cards came out, I was really inspired to try and put my two loves together. I knew with my illustrative skills, my contemporary arts back ground, my love of eclectic fashion trends, and my growing knowledge of make-up textures and mediums…I could really do something ground breaking with body painting. I started body painting friends in my apartment, and photographing them. I then contacted photographers and models and started organizing my own photo shoots, with my own themes. A permanent job in retail would not allow me to continue this at the level I wanted to take it to…so I quit my job and started freelancing full time. I had already begun to brainstorm ways to make the body painting work for me, and ways to market it. The Body of Art name came from my contemporary art training where I was required to create a “body” of work. I thought of all different mediums and environments I would want to see body painting displayed … and this is how I created my business. I posted all my shoots on the web with an online portfolio; until I had so many…I was ready for a website. Thus, www.thebodyofart.com launched in March of this year."
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