Corporalis Couture, an Interview with MISSRED

I recently had the pleasure of discovering the works of MISSRED (www.missred.net), aka Helen Berkun, a photographer and fashion specialist in Chicago, IL. MISSRED just recently graduated from Columbia College Chicago, but has already taken the fashion world by storm, having done works for the likes of Venus Magazine, Milk Magazine, Chicago Social, Pistil Magazine, Akira Boutique, Bell and various well known models such as Veronika K of Playboy fame and various models signed under Elite and Ford agencies.

Being an accomplished photographer however, was not the first thing that caught my eye about this woman's work, although definately worth it's weight on the buzzworthy front. What intrigued me the most about MISSRED's work was another element.... Something called Corporalis Couture.

This is actually a collective of artists, photographers and fashion experts coming together under one roof to create something not necessarily new, but giving a new edge on the old art of body painting.

CC takes it to a whole new level, imitating "high fashion" with only a thong, some pasties and some good old fashion paint. Having started in 2001, with Helen Berkun using the practice for self portraiting, it's now gone on to be a full fledged show with live body painting and catwalk.

If ever you are so lucky to receive an invitation to one of these live performances, take it! It is sure to be one experience you won't soon forget.

See more about Corporalis Couture, it's artists and it's creative forces at www.corpaliscouture.com.


Q: What was your original inspiration for the body painting ideas?
MISSRED: I grew up and was always influenced by fashion. Both my mom and my grandmother are self taught designers and fashionistas of their time. I've always also been very influenced by painting. My grandfather who was a very big part of my self-portraiture work, who photographed himself as different personas was also a painter. I always wanted to fuse all the things that I was so strongly influenced by, and I wanted to push the envelope a bit, so I decided to use my body as a canvas for a means to express myself in my pictures. I asked one of my best friends and a painter, Rita Sky, who is now my partner in Corporalis Couture to paint on me what she saw in me. So she did and it began like that. The second time we did it was when I came back from Israel in 2000 after living there and studying for a few months. It was such a culture shock for me. It was also very militant, everything in Israel made me think of freedom, peace, and war and for the first time I understood that kids like me had their life predetermined until they were 25. They didnít have the freedom of living their life the way they wanted until after they were 25 and finished with the army. Before that they went to school and off to the army and most likely to war. So in order to relieve my frustration I created GI JANE a character body painted in camouflage.


Q: And what inspired you to make an entire movement out of it?
MISSRED: The movement came a bit later when we did a fashion show replicating latest designs from local designers on a catwalk. Rita and I decided that most fashion shows were very dry and very boring so why not place some beautiful, painted bodies on the catwalk. We had half the models dressed in actual clothing from the designers, walking hand in hand with models that were body painted in the same outfit. Rita and I always wanted to get into fashion, we are both huge fans and love clothes so much. We are the type of girls who do not eat lunch just to get those shoes or that pair of jeans that are just so HAUTE!!!

Q: Why fashion photography?  What drew you into this?
MISSRED: I love all things that are beautiful and to me fashion is a celebration of life. Designers are artists, they take things and situations out of the world and the environment and make them into wearable objects to me thatís amazing. I also think of myself as a chameleon, and so when I put a certain article of clothing on I feel like a different person depending on what it is that Iím wearing. Thatís why I love to shoot, my models become my dolls that I dress up and they take on the characters that I have created for them in my head. Everything becomes so real and my dreams become real. Itís all about fun and play and celebration.


Q: Are there any plans to bring Corporalis Couture to a higher playing level?
MISSRED: Sure thatís always in the works. Actually the girls are going on tour on August 14th to Detroit, however Iíll be in Paris and wonít be able to make it. It will be a phenomenal show, 20 models!!! We have been doing more and more touring as the years go by, CC has been in Russia, Ukraine, Miami and hopefully also Prague this fall. Itís all very exciting, we get so pumped to travel and show our art to people in other countries and cities. This is what itís all about, when people are amazed, the looks on their faces are just so rewarding.

Q: Working on any new ideas to improve upon the already working formula?
MISSRED: Of course there is always room for improvement, if there wasn't there's no sense in doing it anymore. Learning is what keeps us going, each time I think we
get better and better. Right now when we look at pictures from when we first started I feel like it
doesn't give us justice, so it's so exciting to think about what we may be able to do a few years from now.

It's wonderful!!!


Wonderful it is!  So many thanks to Helen and the rest of the CC group.

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