For Laura Yard, make-up is an instinct. Shunning specificities, her main inspiration comes only from being present, standing “right in front of the person’s face”, and diving straight in. Her art is personal, intuitive, with a sense of immediacy that allows for only the sincerest form of self-expression. She often uses her own face as canvas and crafts her expressive eyeliner in the moment.
But the results are far from slapdash. Yard tells me that her process is a “meditative” one that can take hours, especially when she’s working on herself. Nor are the looks random: while paying no heed to microtrends, her style still speaks to the zeitgeist. Vacant dark eyeliner looks, hollowed cheeks and deep, plumped lips put her creations right on current ‘ghoul girl’ trend. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s brought that classy, semi-demonic eyeliner energy to her work with reigning trend monarch Julia Fox.
Often partnering with Walter Pierre—who she names as her favourite photographer alongside Paul Kooiker and Cho Gi-Seok—the creations are oblique, evocative and sexy. It isn’t all alternative, though. Citing Pat McGrath as a key inspiration, Yard’s versatility means she’s just as comfortable working on more natural, understated looks for mainstream brands like Calvin Klein as she is incorporating gory effects for Sevdaliza’s album art.
In this series, Ombra, Yard is at her most personal. With signature techniques on her own eyes, she narrates a deep and sensual story—the story of an artist’s intimate, emotional relationship with her craft.
