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Cape Town – Sony Max debuted its new show Skin Wars with a local twist.
South African model and actress Jay Anstey decided to pay homage to both Romijn’s sultry Sports Illustrated shoot and Sony Max’s Skin Wars by recreating Rebecca’s famous cover shot.
It may have taken six hours to complete but Anstey was thrilled with the end result courtesy of local artists Airvolution: "It was inspirational watching incredible artists work to transform my bare skin into beautiful body art."
About the show
The host is international supermodel and actress Rebecca Romijn who knows her way around a jar of body paint as she was the first model to be body-painted for Sports Illustrated’s 1999 swimsuit issue before she made her big-screen debut as the blue body painted Mystique in the hit film X-Men.
The gripping eight-part Skin Wars pits 10 talented and versatile body painters against each other for a $100 000 grand prize in a series of challenges that promise amazing reveals.
Romijn says viewers should get used to their eyes being tricked: "The camouflage challenges were my personal favourite and the level of art was fantastic. And then it’s time to wash off your canvas…"
Entertainer and drag artist RuPaul joins body painting rock stars Craig Tracy and Robin Slonina as judges, with one contestant eliminated every episode.
There are regular guest judges including Carson Kressley, the fashion expert on the TV hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Another guest is Wonder Woman Lynda Carter who comes in to judge after a superhero challenge.
Some of the contestants are as colourful as the art they produce. They come from various backgrounds including tattoo, comic books and freehand (one even paints vehicles) and brilliantly use their talent to turn the body’s blank canvas into works of art.
Each week, contestants are given a particular theme and collateral. Once the clock starts ticking, contestants need to battle it out for the best body-painting design of the day, which guarantees the contestants a step closer to the ultimate grand prize.
Says Romijn: "I love body art and have plenty of experience in the subject. X-Men was a nine-hour make-up job with another two hours needed to take it off! The amazing thing about being painted is that once you’re completely painted you don’t feel nude. Look at my shoot for Sports Illustrated and you are fooled into believing that I am wearing a costume. Skin painting could overtake tattooing. With skin painting you can shower it off. With tattooing you are stuck.”
Watch the promo here:
Catch Skin Wars on Friday, 22 May at 21:30 on Sony Max (DSTV Channel 128).
(Photos: Sony Max)
