Through her unique prosthetics for everyone from Megan Thee Stallion to FKA twigs, Mace is championing the power of pure self-expression
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Mathilda Mace relates to Mina, the virtuous fiancé turned vampire lover in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, “because she’s cunt”. But also because she falls in love with Dracula while he’s in the form of a freaky, wolfish nocturnal creature. “I like her because she is attracted in a sexy, unhinged way,” Mace says.
That she would feel kinship with someone who is drawn to the strange and the monstrous is not so surprising when you look through the 24-year-old make-up artist’s portfolio. Full of otherworldly, mutant creatures that are at turns scary and sexy, Mace’s prosthetics work ranges from reptilian beasts to futuristic nymphs. She’s turned Megan Thee Stallion into a hot girl panther, created a demon faun suit for FKA twigs’ ‘thank you song’ video, and transformed Eartheater and Yaz XL into radioactive marine creatures for Halloween.
Now based in London, Mace grow up in Bromley and East Sussex, although her mum’s side of the family is from Cyprus. She taught herself prosthetics and costume making in spare hours stolen between jobs, and there remains in her work today that sense of uniqueness that results from forging your own path in something. It is something that is very important to her, and in every piece, she aims to work against trends and viral popularity.
“I am very passionate about the fact that we are not allowed to fully express ourselves. People want instant gratification – if you aren’t producing art that is in keeping with media trends and social standards, you aren’t able to grow because no one validates you,” she says. “I want to communicate and teach people how to be undeniably themselves. This is something I will be exploring and learning this year. Expression is the word!”
Here Mace shares more about her path into SFX make-up artistry, making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and living your life in reverse.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and where you grew up?
Mathilda Mace: I think an important thing to help with this bit about myself is to say that I am Pisces to the grave, with double Virgo. This is very crucial in explaining me and how I work: I’m always in my own world. Ever since I was a child I’ve been heavily influenced by dreams, nightmares and characters I have made from my mind of people I may have come across on the street or seen in an advert.
I grew up on the outskirts of London in a town called Bromley. I liked my upbringing there, it was friendly and very much about community. As much as I had precious memories of my childhood there, I think that my brain was going into overdrive because I needed a way to express my creativity. When I moved to the countryside and was allowed to explore nature more, that was when I felt less cooped up and able to explore art in a more serious way.
What is it you do and why do you do it?
Mathilda Mace: I would call myself an SFX MUA and artist. It all happened in a very natural but unnatural way. I didn’t follow the natural path to go through University and then intern and then get a job. Everything happened very randomly and I couldn’t be happier with the journey to get to where I am now.
How did you get into it?
Mathilda Mace: I was at uni and I decided to take a risk and drop out for many reasons. I felt bored with what I was learning and uninspired, I wasn’t proud of the work I was making. So I dropped out and after that it was a year of ‘faking it till you make it’. I worked on prosthetics for Antman with an amazing company, and then on Aquaman and the newest Halo series.
Alongside this, I was also teaching myself in my spare time prosthetics and costume making, taking on jobs and working on them in the early hours between. After a long year of learning and grinding, I decided to go freelance and start my own ‘brand’. This is when everything started to work and fall into place.
What’s your earliest beauty-related memory?
Mathilda Mace: I remember when I was seven, my mum bought me one of those plastic make-up kits with those dual-ended spongy eye smudgers that you’d scrub into the perfumed sparkly glosses and powdery bright eyeshadows that don’t have any colour payoff. She bought it for me as my Christmas present and I remember writing up a schedule on a piece of paper with timings for each family member so they knew when to come into my room for their makeovers with my new make-up. I literally did every family member that day, treating their faces like a colouring book.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Mathilda Mace: I’m not sure. I’ve had lots of moments that I’ve been grateful to have experienced and achieved. I would have to say the biggest shock was being put on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list because it was so unexpected
What is your current obsession?
Mathilda Mace: My current obsession is writing poems on the tube and watching Kate Bush perform ‘James and the Cold Gun’ live on YouTube (and forcing everyone I know to watch it with me).
What does beauty mean to you?
Mathilda Mace: Beauty is a very personal thing to me. I really believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s super creative to me to have a personalised beauty standard, and also interesting to me when I ask myself, if there was no beauty standards or media that drove certain stereotypes and trends, would we all find ourselves connecting with people who are better for us than the ones that are hiding their true selves because they are trying to look and be a certain way?
When do you feel most beautiful?
Mathilda Mace: I feel most beautiful when I am creating art in collaboration with other amazing artists. I recently did a project with this amazing artist called Cato, who airbrushes the most amazing collages. I felt when making this parallel breathing canvas moment with him because my brain felt like it was purring with creative happiness
Are you optimistic about the future?
Mathilda Mace: Yes, if we all branch off and learn to do our own things for the validation of no one but ourselves. If we stop people-pleasing and become more honest with what we like and don’t like. I am optimistic, I just hate and love the progression of the internet society. I wish us creatives could all gather in nature rather than cities.
What is the future of beauty?
Mathilda Mace: For me it would be having beauty classes in schools. Not functional classes where they teach simple glam make-up, I mean more like workshops on expression and body positivity from a very young age.
Would you rather live forever as an old person or live your life in reverse?
Mathilda Mace: Obviously live my life in reverse. Stagnancy is my idea of hell. Routine I hate too, so I like the dysfunctional idea of living my life backwards. I feel like our lives go backwards anyway as we get older we become more childlike. I don’t see life as a timeline, it’s an ever-generating and adapting circle.
