As Circe Irasema drags a sliver of crushed plum shadow across a white panel, she invites every eye trained by studios or bathroom mirrors alike to witness the instant when makeup stops reflecting a face and starts rewriting the timeline of painting.
In Irasema's universe, sacred geometry gets a full makeover. Here, a collection of her cosmetic sculptures feels less like a gallery display and more like a celestial vanity table. A hand adorned with pristine acrylic nails gestures towards a sun-shaped artifact, while a ring inlaid with a gradient of eyeshadows becomes a portal to another dimension. This is the artist’s “Cosmic Painting” series in its most tangible form, where she builds an alternative canon of beauty, one where the tools of self-adornment are given the same reverence as a classical painter’s oils.
At first glance, it’s a lesson in high-minded geometry. But lean closer, and you’ll see the rebellious wink. For this series, which has graced venues like Art Basel Miami, Irasema subverts the rigid, masculine-coded world of Renaissance principles with the most feminized of materials. Each eyeshadow-filled polygon is a small act of defiance, reclaiming the “order” of the cosmos from dusty textbooks and infusing it with the vibrant, often dismissed, world of cosmetics. It’s as if Pythagoras stopped by a Sephora and realized he’d been missing the point all along.
Consider the small, sharp grief of a shattered eyeshadow palette, that vibrant dust destined for the trash, and you might begin to understand how an entire history of art can be built, and dismantled, by what we decide is worth saving.
Part sacred relic, part salon-fresh statement piece, this cosmetic sculpture perfectly captures Irasema’s blend of wit and reverence. The anatomical wooden hand, a classic artist’s tool, is transformed by the addition of immaculate, shimmering acrylic nails. It's a gesture that’s both performative and powerful, suggesting that the history of feminine expression, often relegated to the “frivolous”, holds its own profound rituals. This mixed-media makeup art doesn't just sit on a pedestal; it holds a conversation about what we consider timeless art versus temporary beauty.
Here, a sunburst sculpture radiates with the playful energy of a perfectly curated eyeshadow palette. Each triangular ray is meticulously filled with pigmented powder, transforming a symbol of cosmic power into an object of intimate, domestic beauty. This piece of contemporary Mexican cosmetic art embodies the artist’s core idea: that the shared root of “cosmos” and “cosmetics” points to a universal search for harmony and order. It’s a beautiful, humorous reminder that for many, creating order in the universe begins right at the makeup counter.
In this elegant composition, two wooden arches create a minimalist landscape, but it’s the details that tell the story. One arch is pure form, while its partner is inlaid with a spectrum of cosmetic powders, from soft peach to deep indigo. A mirror placed between them does more than just reflect; it implicates us. As we look, our own image is caught in the space between traditional art and beauty rituals, forcing a quiet contemplation on the female gaze. It’s a masterful piece of cosmetic art that asks us where we see ourselves in the history of beauty.
Like a sacred archive for a new kind of history, this grid of wooden hands creates a powerful feminist art installation. Each hand is unique, adorned with glossy acrylics and striking a pose that feels both ancient and utterly contemporary. By arranging these symbols of gesture and adornment with such formal precision, Irasema elevates the daily rituals of femininity into a language of their own. It’s a visual manifesto that reframes the female gaze not as a subject to be painted, but as an active, creative force with its own stories to tell.
Titled Los brazos de Morfeo (The Arms of Morpheus), these dangling limbs seem to have drifted in from a divine dream. Painted with cosmic patterns and tipped with fiercely glamorous nails, they embody the themes of metamorphosis and the performative body that are central to Irasema’s work. The combination of the anatomical form with the fantastical, starry finish and sharp acrylics creates a surreal tension. Are they reaching out to create or to cast a spell? This cosmetic sculpture suggests the two actions might just be one and the same.
This vibrant lineup of disembodied hands is a masterclass in gesture and personality. Irasema uses bold, geometric color-blocking and dramatic acrylic nails to turn these anatomical models into characters, each seemingly frozen mid-sentence in a silent, glamorous dialogue. By applying beauty products directly onto these forms, she effectively creates eyeshadow paintings in three dimensions. The work celebrates the expressive power of hands, a tool for both creating art and applying makeup, and challenges us to see the artistry in both.
Standing like mystical totems, these panels from the "Cosmic Painting" series showcase Irasema’s unique visual language. Using unconventional art materials like eyeshadow and blush, she crafts narratives filled with celestial symbols, watchful eyes, and abstract bursts of color. Each panel is a universe unto itself, telling one of the "intimate or hidden stories" her work seeks to uncover. It's a clever and poignant use of makeup-based artwork, turning the fragile, dusty medium of a cosmetic palette into something enduring and profound.
