Crystal Queens

PHOTOGRAPHY

Feb 12

Combining retrofuturism with hyperreal aesthetics, pop-art style colours and bejewelled womxns bodies, Jasmine De Silva playfully satirises the desire for physical perfection, holding up a mirror to our own dehumanising obsession with appearances, with ambitious aims to expose society’s unrealistic standards of beauty. For her new series and ongoing project, De Silva creates a scintillating narrative of human addiction to body modification and the search for unattainable perfection.

Interview Sufiyeh Hadian-Clarke  Photography Jasmine De Silva

What was the inspirations behind Crystal Queens?

When I started Crystal Queens at the end of 2019, I had been addressing the concept of beauty and the human obsession with chasing perfection, for a year or so in my work. I had been very drawn in by satirically capturing the essence of perky makeup tutorial videos and 1960s British Pathè instructional films, of how to be the perfect housewife. Crystal Queens was born from these elements, and the absurd, almost alien levels of body modification we perform, in pursuit of what the media sells to us as must-have beauty. I imagined a woman at home, using the crystal skin beauty product, but she's used a little too much and it restricts her, emphasising the suffocating trap that we fall into on the journey to attain the perfect body. Using an everyday domestic space like the home, explores the notion that we feel like we have to be perfectly made up even in the comfort of our own homes whilst watching Netflix.

“Crystal Queens was born from the absurd, almost alien levels of body modification we perform, in pursuit of what the media sells to us as must-have beauty.”

The Queens look like it took a painstaking amount of time, talk us through the process behind the creation?

You're not wrong there! For me it's so fun. I get to watch the transformation happen. I love walking away for an hour and returning to see these womxn morph in front of my eyes. When we did the first shoot I didn't have plans to make this into a series, mainly for that exact reason, it is a long process and I wasn't sure the incredible makeup designer would be up for doing it again. Thankfully she was! The first shoot took 6 hrs alone to do the face and it was worth it. We really wanted to make sure that throwing a load of glitter makeup on didn't end up looking like festival makeup. Natasha Lawes (the makeup designer) happened to be a crystal specialist which was a total coincidence when I asked if she'd be up for doing this project. The poor models have to sit still for hours, growing more and more restricted as they're gradually covered up, and the process of removing it can actually be quite painful as it pulls at the skin. I do warn people first, but everyone jumps at the chance to be covered in crystals and glitter, and I don't blame them!

Who did you work with to create these Crystal Queens?

I work with all my dream team who I've been lucky enough to work with for a few years now. Natasha Lawes creates the crystallised look. Judit Florenciano is the wig stylist, and Sian O'Donnell is the costume stylist. The first shoot was shot at Margate Location House with set designer Amy Exton and the other two were with Kate Sutton.

The search for beauty and aesthetic perfection within your series comes across as satirical – is there a danger element to the Crystal Queens using the ‘ultimate beauty product’?

The satirical approach came quite naturally a few years ago and I think I use this as it helps to make quite a sad topic digestible for myself and an audience. There of course are quite comical and ridiculous elements to what we do as humans to try and modify ourselves, but there's definitely a danger to it, and in other areas of my work I try to make sure there is a dark underlying tone as a reminder of the negative terms and conditions of this level of body modification.

In reality there are huge implications to our physical, psychological and financial health that we neglect as we focus on our exterior. Beauty is often dismissed as a superficial topic, yet the overwhelming desire to keep up with beauty standards is a universal struggle that harms us immensely. It induces appearance-related anxiety, depression, body and facial dysmorphia, eating disorders and suicide. The language of the beauty industry tricks us into neglecting our power by convincing us the power is in the products; ‘miracle’, ‘saviour’, ‘the holy grail’. These words are exploited to trap us in the beauty illusion. We feel worthless if we feel bad about our appearance, and the beauty industry promises salvation. As we fall deeper into modifying ourselves before delving into why we think we need to modify ourselves, we disconnect from ourselves and lose our identities a bit.

“Despite there being a huge push towards body positivity in society, there is still a huge issue with body trends and not celebrating every body.”

Would you say your work is a critique or a celebration of fashion and beauty ideals?

With the current bodies of work I have, there is definitely a larger element of critique, however I want there to be more of a celebratory element going forward where it makes sense. I think the celebration, and hopefully empowering touch, is there for the women in the images and for people who relate to the topic I'm exploring in my work. Despite there being a huge push towards body positivity in society, there is still a huge issue with body trends and not celebrating every body.

How has your education in fashion photography influenced your art?

I think my fashion photography background helped shape my visual style into what it is today, as I guess I was always unintentionally looking at the glossy and filtered visual world of the fashion industry. I'm really happy this is the route that I followed as it also gave me the insight into the industry that actually creates the body and beauty trends, so I understand this topic from multiple angles.

What do these Crystal Queens mean to you?

I feel compassion toward them as I can see and feel their entrapment and suffocation, and the isolation that comes with not feeling good enough. As I'm still working on the series I will have a more diverse range of womxn and I want to balance out the alienating mood with empowerment at the same time. I've been collecting testimonials from each of the Queens just to see how it really feels to be crystallised for a day. As this started off so small, but I have much bigger plans for the continuation of it, the Crystal Queens also represent the transformation in myself as I progress with my work. Sometimes I look at the images and I'm like is this stupid, like is anyone going to care about seeing another woman covered in crystals, but then I remember part of the process and message of this project is to bring people together to discuss this topic more, so bringing more Crystal Queens to life will create strength in numbers.

“I absolutely love shoot days, once everyone is together and it's all coming to life, it's such a weird feeling and high that I can't truly describe.”

What do you love about what you do?

I love that I get to be wrapped up in my own little world a lot of the time, as I spend so much time researching and planning the ideas. And then I absolutely love shoot days, once everyone is together and it's all coming to life, it's such a weird feeling and high that I can't truly describe when these little ideas from your imagination are formed in front of you with an incredible team. I just always feel lucky that this is how I get to spend my life because it keeps my inner child on the surface.

What’s next for you?

Continuing the Crystal Queens for sure, I hope to shoot a lot more this year! I'm also planning to shoot a narrative film in a few months that I've been working on for a while now, and I'm currently developing a feature film script too. I'm working on a few projects with my friend and collaborator too, under the name Pynk Prysm.

About Jasmine

London based Photographer and Director

Jasmine is a London-based photographer and director. She studied at the London College of Fashion, completing a BA and MA in Fashion Photography. Upon graduating in 2019, Jasmine has won awards for emerging talent in both Photography and Directing. Jasmine was selected as a winner of 2022 British Journal of Photography Female in Focus Awards. She works in London as a freelance photographer and director for music videos, commercials and narrative, whilst developing her debut feature film.

To see more of her work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram

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Crystal Queens

“Crystal Queens was born from the absurd, almost alien levels of body modification we perform, in pursuit of what the media sells to us as must-have beauty.”

“Despite there being a huge push towards body positivity in society, there is still a huge issue with body trends and not celebrating every body.”

“I absolutely love shoot days, once everyone is together and it's all coming to life, it's such a weird feeling and high that I can't truly describe.”

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