sarahness

Boo Ritson, 41, has developed a technique that allows her to transform people into living dolls.

She paints her subjects in layers of paint before photographing them. Her models have to stay motionless as she paints them – making them look like giant action figures.

Ritson has been painting people for four years and previously had a training in sculpture.

“I’m looking at how to merge painting and sculpture in my work – painting an image of a thing on top of the actual thing itself. Looking back, it was a logical progression to start working in this way, but when I first decided to paint people, it felt like a departure from what I knew,” she said.

“I use normal water-based paint on people as it is relatively inert and washes off quickly. It takes a few weeks from the idea, through the planning and costume-making, to finish the actual painting. On the painting day, I have a short time to finish before the paint dries, as I’m only interested in seeing it wet,” she continues.

Boo’s work represents American caricatures and she is heavily influenced by American fiction, and times gone by, especially the 1950’s and 60’s.