Meshing literary and artistic tropes of the Gothic and eccentric horror in light shades of pastel pink, makeup artist, content creator and independent musicianJazmin Bean is pushing the boundaries of alternative fashion and transgressing the norms of looks and beauty.
The Creative Mind Behind Jazmin Bean
Jazmin Bean’s physical appearance may invoke a sense of horror at first but within the individual is a genuine soul who loves to share and craft art.
Jazmin Bean illuminates Gothic surrealism.The video distributed by Vogue details Bean’s eccentric beauty routine and how Bean adopted a unique style. Bean got into make up during the ages 11-12, inspired by the looks of childhood toy dolls and drag culture.
Extremely open to fans inquiring what makeup Bean uses, Bean has established a vegan and cruelty free cosmetics line called Cult Candy Cosmetics which is co-run with mum Angie Adams (former drummer of the all female 90s punk band Fluffy).
According to Bean, the fashion sense and inspiration draws from a collective range of Japanese pop culture, different ethnic mythologies, and animals. Bean’s hero is film director, Tim Burton, and is majorly influenced by his films and writings. The poetry and illustrated book by Burton, The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy & Other Storieswhich Bean heavily draws inspiration from, was given to Bean by Angie during childhood.
On Jazmin’s cultural/ethnic background, Jazmin’s Filipino grandmother is an additional influence on Jazmin’s art and the cultural ancestry of appreciating Filipino folklore and its horror aspects has influenced artist’s work. By drawing from these different influences Bean creates an independent style.
Bean draws on what can be different about the human body, optimising on facial qualities and therefore draws different lines and imagery on the cheeks, lips, nose and face. Bean also uses different coloured eye contacts and experiments uniquemasquerading hues and textures around the eyes.
The London teenager has amassed a large Instagram following of 129k followers.
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Throwback to Two princesses at @disneyland , ?? #shedidntwanttotouchme #baddies ?
A post shared by Jazmin Bean ༗.̫̮ ༗ (@jazminbean) on
Proclaiming ‘I’m a Genderless Monster’
What is fascinating about Jazmin Bean is how this young person is an artist showcasing an empowering sense of self-integrity. It is a sense of empowerment that channels a strong individualism who is open about their own gender identity.Jazmin Bean identifies as agender and prefers the pronoun ‘they’.
In the small interview titled, ‘I’m Becoming A Genderless Monster’ directed by Marcus Hessenberg, Bean states ‘I’m a 5.3ft human’, the quirky teenager combinespost-human looks and Japanese fashion. With the use of a chest binder and unusual dress sense, Bean discards the look of sexual organs to appear alien andembodying what Bean calls the ‘genderless look’.
On the Cult Candy Cosmetics webpage, their ideology on gender is inclusive to all types of gender,
‘We think it’s brilliant that there’s so much more awareness around gender identity now, compared with previous times. But we’re genuinely inclusive – we don’t expect people to have to define their gender identity. What’s important is that people have the opportunity to create individual looks and to express themselves, whoever they are. At Cult Candy, we are what we are on all surfaces.’
Inviting fans into the Jazmin Bean Universe through music
Another interesting dynamic to add to Bean’s artistic repertoire is Bean’s electronic based pop music. Showcasing a twisted sense of humour, Bean displays a deeper look into the imagination of Jazmin Bean in the EP,WorldWide Torture.The EPaffirms to be a mission statement from the artist.
Bean told PAPER:
“This EP is obviously my first body of work and I wanted to show people a small bite into my world, my lyrics and imagery come from all my inspirations the things and situations around me or that I’m dealing with and just out of my mind.”
One of the most artistically striking tracks of the EP is the track, ‘Saccharine’.
The accompanying music video ‘Saccharine’ showcases many tropes of Jazmine Bean’s ‘Genderless Monster’ aesthetic.
The story tellingdetails the perspective of having a romantic obsession feeling way too complicated. Bean visualises the video as a mindnumbing toothache experience that needs to be graphically removed at a dentist surgery.
The lyrics employ a raw use of language with a combination of bittersweet imagery,
“I don’t mean to scare but you’re just so cute/ Every move you make/ You’re f*cking sweeter than a cake/ I wanna cut you up and put you in my oven just to bake,” they sing, “Everything you say is like poetry/ I want to drop you in boiling water drink you like chamomile tree.”
The electronic beats start off raw at the beginning but during the song’s mid section the dynamic changes into a dream-pop stasis and becomes rough again towards the end. Even the song’s title is impressively witty, (saccherine meaning: excessively sweet or sentimental) it seems to suggest that Jazmin Bean’s creative process looks at a particular subject matter at both ends of the spectrum.
Bean told PAPERabout the direction and inspiration in creating a surrealistic piece of work,
“genres from my favourite films and art and music I’ve grown up with… I love Tim Burton and Jim Henson and all their soundtracks and I adore theatricality and hyper femme and hyper crazy art and think there should be so much more of it in the music industry.”
Fans on Twitter have posted how obsessively good the song is and respect the individuality of Jazmin Bean:
HOKAY SO this is really bloody (I guess a little gory??) but the music is SUPER GOOD~ Currently listening to her/their? EP on Spotify and holy sh*t. Instant fan tbh. https://t.co/KSKbeEzQaw
— Ajah 2.0 (@spacewusky) November 24, 2019
Such utter total quality on display right here!@abortjazminbean
I salute you.
My flex is tame compared to yours, & you produce too!
Just totally fresh & world class art, that's what you do.
I applaud you for it, as I do try & push things too.
Props.
❤️https://t.co/LZ3YrhvMDA— Alys Buckman (@AlysBuckman) November 20, 2019
Jazmin Bean is an artist that simply aims to be whoever Jazmin Bean wants to be. Bean does not intentionally or purposefully aim to break down gender norms and stereotypes but simply chooses to promote the notion of gender equality, by being ‘themself’ and therefore have their own self-agency.
‘Find your own thing before anything, because obviously we don’t like copiers,’ said Jazmin Bean.
Check out Bean’s Instagram for more seriously chilling works of art and let us know what you think in the comments down below!
