Head to Toe

Jazz musician Alec Haavik first imagined himself as a lizard about a decade ago. The idea persisted, permeated his saxophone improvisation and became part of his artistry.

On a cold day last month, Haavik sat in a toasty little hotel room in Pudong – wearing only a thong – as body painter Cai Kefei turned his vision into reality.

Cai starts with a green base coat, then she and an assistant dapple Haavik’s back with yellowy scales. “I want people to feel the beauty of this action-art,” she explains.

Born in Wuxi, Cai majored in textile design at university before moving to Shanghai. In the late 80s, she saw the body painting art book Karada Keshoby Hideki Fujii and Teruko Kobayashi. The book made waves in the international art world and inspired Cai to take up body painting.

“The painting is supposed to be an extension of his body language,” Cai says. “A good painter should express something through the language of painting rather than just attract people’s eyes.”

Using body painting for commercial purposes was banned by the government in 2005. Cai doesn’t mind too much. “I want to keep it as an art, not some business.”

In addition to body painting, Cai teaches budding stylists at Shanghai Art Academy.She’s been to Austria, home of the World Body Painting Association and the World Body Painting Festival, to learn more about her art. She also once brought students to South Korea to compete in a body painting competition. They took third place.

When she first started, Cai used lipstick and eyebrow pencils on her human canvasses. Then she graduated to Peking Opera face paints. She knows sometimes amateurs use common propylene colors, which can be harmful to the skin. Since studying in Austria, she’s used specialized body paints.

After several hours, the final touches are made to Haavik’s scales. His movements are sharper, less predictable, his energy changes. The whites of his eyes look wild against the brilliant green. His transformation from soft-spoken musician to reptile is complete.

// 非常体绘, Rm 1014, Shanghai China Ethnic Folk Culture Museum, 216 Chengshan Lu, by Shangnan Lu 成山路216号, 近上南路 (133 9115 4486, kefei_art@163.com)