Instagram is often considered the social platform of choice for the vapid and vain.
Then someone like 16 year-old Melbourne body artist Lara Wirth comes along and reminds us why we keep logging on every day.
Self-dubbed a ‘procastipainter’, Wirth started experimenting with the form at the age of 14, after seeing a reality show in which participants take part in competitions using special effects makeup.
Like many great artists, Wirth finds her motivation in the work of her predecessors.“I begin any look by getting inspiration, usually from someone else’s body painting. Then I figure out what I like about it, and then I make it my own,” she told Instagram when they featured her on their page earlier this week.
Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of Wirth’s work is her flexibility. Not only is she proficient with a range of media – latex is playing a more intense role in many of her latest designs – but her painting style ranges from frighteningly realistic, to the more surreal and outright cartoony.
As interest in her work has increased (her followers have jumped from 12k to 30k in the last four days alone), Wirth has taken to Youtube to provide tutorials for her new looks. The videos paint the picture of a confident and funny teenager whose talent shines amidst the range of emerging artists who have taken to the network over the last half-decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nbf7xOq48
“My dream would be to work on a movie or even just to watch another artist working in a professional setting,” Wirth revealed. No doubt, with her ability, she’s not far from making it a reality.
You can visit Lara Wirth’s official Instagram account, Armageddon Painted, here.