Paddy Hartley

One of the last in the series of Face Corset garments designed to temporarily 'reconfigure' the wearers face to parody popular cosmetic surgery techniques.

The 'Face Corsets' were made at the invitation of the Victoria & Albert Museum for the event 'Short Cuts to Beauty' and then later funded by a Wellcome Trust People Award.

Made in response to the self imposed brief 'what if it were considered taboo to surgically alter the appearance of the face for cosmetic purposes alone: could 'modifications' be made by the use of a garment as corsets do to reconfigure the body'.

Face Corsets are not masks, they do not hide but actively present the face in an alternative configuration.

The Face Corsets have been exhibited widely at both the Victoria & Albert Museum and Science Museum London and at Macquaire University, Sydney Australia and have been featured in a number of publications.