Rewrite and translate this title Elizaveta Porodina’s evocative portraits explore the performance of emotion to Japanese between 50 and 60 characters. Do not include any introductory or extra text; return only the title in Japanese.

Elizaveta Porodina is renowned for her dynamic fashion imagery. But while the Russian-born, Munich-based multimedia artist has collaborated with brands such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Orebella and KNWLS, she is best known for her ability to evoke powerful emotions through her work; her artistry lies in the business of world-building, creating vivid, suspended realities in which viewers can momentarily lose themselves.

Indeed, her imagery demonstrates an alternative approach to beauty, not focusing on conventional standards of attractiveness, but the power of make-up to express – or heighten – emotion. Using make-up as a storytelling device, beauty looks are often hyper-theatrical or even clown-ish – like Lila Moss’s rosy pink cheeks and blue eyeshadow on the cover of Vogue Spain, which came courtesy of Isamaya Ffrench.

In an another editorial, Colin Jones wears long, spindly lashes (created by make-up artist Valentina Li) which extend out of her face, along with black-rimmed eyes that emphasise the model’s expressions of sorrow, shock, yearning and confusion. “We need to create this world around the person and to make it believable,” says Porodina of her process. “It’s almost like a magic spell that you keep repeating and you must believe it yourself.”

I am a huge fan of your work and how you incorporate make-up as part of telling a story. It’s clear from your artwork that you have a unique perception of what it means for something to look ‘beautiful’. Can you tell me about your approach to beauty?

Elizaveta Porodina: Conventional ‘beauty’ is not my top priority. I believe that a photograph is supposed to be beautiful, to be visually appealing in some way, but it’s hard for me to say what I find beautiful and to think about how it relates to what other people find beautiful. Often there will be something that I really connect with, and then an editor will call me and say, ‘that picture is so uncomfortably intense!’ 

So your approach to creating ‘beauty’ through art is more about portraying emotion in a way that you find beautiful, then it is about appealing to conventional ideas of beauty?

Elizaveta Porodina: It’s almost never my aim to make something look natural or realistic. My aim is very intuitively oriented, it’s a very personal approach to beauty. My work is always about evoking a certain response by telling a specific story. Everyone has felt emotion or vulnerability, so people can relate. I think that the need to get this across is as important as any aesthetic in my work. I think it’s the same as how I like to use a lot of seasoning on my food; sometimes I feel that my emotions, or the way I connect with the world, can be very intense. In my work, with the make-up and all the different aspects, I feel that beauty through intensity.

How do you know when you have reached the point when you have made something ‘beautiful’?

Elizaveta Porodina: I know exactly when it’s right, because it’s almost like the sound of the key fitting the keyhole perfectly. Whenever I prioritise the need to explore emotion or depth of the human condition, beauty almost automatically comes within this exploration.

In this vein of the beauty of feeling, what would you say are some of your biggest inspirations in terms of the presentation of emotion in your images?

Elizaveta Porodina: My mum introduced me to art when I was young – there was such an array of artists that inspired me. I went to all the museums and read all the art books I could lay my hands on – people like Degas, Picasso, Lautrec and Egon Schiele. I loved artists that were inspired by the ballet, circus and theatre. I have always been fascinated by performers in general. I think I was always inspired by the hiding of an emotion and painting another one on top – the performing and stylising of emotion.

How would you say these inspirations feed into the way you use make-up to tell stories through still images?

Elizaveta Porodina: I think that when I work with a make-up artist, it is not about putting on make-up for beauty. It is way more about shaping, reshaping and exploring all the different shapes that could be possible. I like using make-up almost in the same way that light and shadow is used in a performative aspect, like in modern cinema and silent movies. Make-up plays an integral role in creating a fully realised character.

How do you go about conceptualising looks with the make-up artists you work with?

Elizaveta Porodina: Well, I don’t see it as thinking, ‘oh I want pretty lashes’. I think something like, I want a feverish look, like the person has been running for hours. This could be achieved in many ways – excessive blush, textured skin, bitten on lips. I involve hair and make-up artists from a very early stage. I love working with artists who are playing to their strengths but I also think it’s important that collaboration results in everyone trying something they aren’t used to. I don’t like to send people back their portfolio and say ‘just do that.’ It’s a feeling, when it clicks, with the make-up and all the aspects.

Would you say that beauty, for you, is integrally related to performance?

Elizaveta Porodina: In my work, it’s all about the performance of a certain, heightened emotion. I think that every single aspect of it is curated to heighten and elevate that aspect. Let’s say it’s a shoot about sleepwalking, the model is lost in a certain dream and I want the make-up to heighten and elevate the stress, the feeling of being suspended, disassociating from the physical body and being fearful. If the person nails the expression together with the make-up and hair and I believe that the scenario has manifested into reality – this is where it becomes beautiful to me. The idea of beauty being a performance, the making of something beautiful being integrally theatrical, it hugely relates to my work, because everything I do is intentionally highly staged. 

Would you say that post-production is an important element of this performance of creating something that you find uniquely beautiful? 

Elizaveta Porodina: Definitely, beauty is not just a question of curating the image beforehand, it’s about picking the right image and the post-production. In my work, there can be so much variety in movement of a person, so it is about a mix of the look with the lighting, the specific emotion that the person is evoking – this combination makes the unique idea of beauty for each image greater. It’s like a cocktail in which all these elements are equally important. 

Elizaveta Porodina is renowned for her dynamic fashion imagery. But while the Russian-born, Munich-based multimedia artist has collaborated with brands such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Orebella and KNWLS, she is best known for her ability to evoke powerful emotions through her work; her artistry lies in the business of world-building, creating vivid, suspended realities in which viewers can momentarily lose themselves.

Indeed, her imagery demonstrates an alternative approach to beauty, not focusing on conventional standards of attractiveness, but the power of make-up to express – or heighten – emotion. Using make-up as a storytelling device, beauty looks are often hyper-theatrical or even clown-ish – like Lila Moss’s rosy pink cheeks and blue eyeshadow on the cover of Vogue Spain, which came courtesy of Isamaya Ffrench.

In an another editorial, Colin Jones wears long, spindly lashes (created by make-up artist Valentina Li) which extend out of her face, along with black-rimmed eyes that emphasise the model’s expressions of sorrow, shock, yearning and confusion. “We need to create this world around the person and to make it believable,” says Porodina of her process. “It’s almost like a magic spell that you keep repeating and you must believe it yourself.”

I am a huge fan of your work and how you incorporate make-up as part of telling a story. It’s clear from your artwork that you have a unique perception of what it means for something to look ‘beautiful’. Can you tell me about your approach to beauty?

Elizaveta Porodina: Conventional ‘beauty’ is not my top priority. I believe that a photograph is supposed to be beautiful, to be visually appealing in some way, but it’s hard for me to say what I find beautiful and to think about how it relates to what other people find beautiful. Often there will be something that I really connect with, and then an editor will call me and say, ‘that picture is so uncomfortably intense!’ 

So your approach to creating ‘beauty’ through art is more about portraying emotion in a way that you find beautiful, then it is about appealing to conventional ideas of beauty?

Elizaveta Porodina: It’s almost never my aim to make something look natural or realistic. My aim is very intuitively oriented, it’s a very personal approach to beauty. My work is always about evoking a certain response by telling a specific story. Everyone has felt emotion or vulnerability, so people can relate. I think that the need to get this across is as important as any aesthetic in my work. I think it’s the same as how I like to use a lot of seasoning on my food; sometimes I feel that my emotions, or the way I connect with the world, can be very intense. In my work, with the make-up and all the different aspects, I feel that beauty through intensity.

How do you know when you have reached the point when you have made something ‘beautiful’?

Elizaveta Porodina: I know exactly when it’s right, because it’s almost like the sound of the key fitting the keyhole perfectly. Whenever I prioritise the need to explore emotion or depth of the human condition, beauty almost automatically comes within this exploration.

In this vein of the beauty of feeling, what would you say are some of your biggest inspirations in terms of the presentation of emotion in your images?

Elizaveta Porodina: My mum introduced me to art when I was young – there was such an array of artists that inspired me. I went to all the museums and read all the art books I could lay my hands on – people like Degas, Picasso, Lautrec and Egon Schiele. I loved artists that were inspired by the ballet, circus and theatre. I have always been fascinated by performers in general. I think I was always inspired by the hiding of an emotion and painting another one on top – the performing and stylising of emotion.

How would you say these inspirations feed into the way you use make-up to tell stories through still images?

Elizaveta Porodina: I think that when I work with a make-up artist, it is not about putting on make-up for beauty. It is way more about shaping, reshaping and exploring all the different shapes that could be possible. I like using make-up almost in the same way that light and shadow is used in a performative aspect, like in modern cinema and silent movies. Make-up plays an integral role in creating a fully realised character.

How do you go about conceptualising looks with the make-up artists you work with?

Elizaveta Porodina: Well, I don’t see it as thinking, ‘oh I want pretty lashes’. I think something like, I want a feverish look, like the person has been running for hours. This could be achieved in many ways – excessive blush, textured skin, bitten on lips. I involve hair and make-up artists from a very early stage. I love working with artists who are playing to their strengths but I also think it’s important that collaboration results in everyone trying something they aren’t used to. I don’t like to send people back their portfolio and say ‘just do that.’ It’s a feeling, when it clicks, with the make-up and all the aspects.

Would you say that beauty, for you, is integrally related to performance?

Elizaveta Porodina: In my work, it’s all about the performance of a certain, heightened emotion. I think that every single aspect of it is curated to heighten and elevate that aspect. Let’s say it’s a shoot about sleepwalking, the model is lost in a certain dream and I want the make-up to heighten and elevate the stress, the feeling of being suspended, disassociating from the physical body and being fearful. If the person nails the expression together with the make-up and hair and I believe that the scenario has manifested into reality – this is where it becomes beautiful to me. The idea of beauty being a performance, the making of something beautiful being integrally theatrical, it hugely relates to my work, because everything I do is intentionally highly staged. 

Would you say that post-production is an important element of this performance of creating something that you find uniquely beautiful? 

Elizaveta Porodina: Definitely, beauty is not just a question of curating the image beforehand, it’s about picking the right image and the post-production. In my work, there can be so much variety in movement of a person, so it is about a mix of the look with the lighting, the specific emotion that the person is evoking – this combination makes the unique idea of beauty for each image greater. It’s like a cocktail in which all these elements are equally important.