One of Glasgow’s most recognizable drag queens has received praise from Hollywood A-listers for his latest project.
Lawrence Chaney spent the month of May creating a different horror-inspired make-up look every day. The transformations are outrageously detailed, giving no hint at the young queen hiding underneath. He has been blown away by the response, having received words of encouragement and sought-after “likes” from some of horror’s most beloved figures.
“When I posted the Black Swan photograph, I left my phone and when I came back I saw that Darren Aronofsky – director of Black Swan, Mother – had liked the picture. I wasn’t too confident in that look either but when I saw that I was like ‘wow, I must’ve done something right.’ And it’s not only that picture.
“I’ve had responses from James Wan – director of SAW, The Conjuring, Annabelle – on a picture I posted as characters from Dead Silence, a film he directed in 2007 saying that the look was ‘rad’ which, after looking up on Urban Dictionary, is a compliment!
“My work has also been viewed by Jamie Lee Curtis, James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy and Doug Jones, actor in The Shape of Water. Even the production company Blumhouse Productions, who produced The Purge, Happy Death Day, re-posted one of my looks.”
Lawrence is thrilled with the reaction from horror legends – especially as he’s been a fan of the genre for as long as he can remember.
“My mum is a huge film fan so I grew up watching thriller and horror films from the 70s, then as I grew up we watched slashers like Scream.
“I think the aesthetic of horror is very rich and vibrant, very similar to a drag queen.”
As a fanatic, coming up with the concepts and characters for the project was second nature for Lawrence.
“It gave me a great excuse to watch loads of horror films and I could use the excuse ‘one more, it’s for work’.
“Before I even started, I listed all the characters and ideas I had and started working on hair, costumes , and sourcing the right makeup and bald caps before the month of May even started. I knew I wanted this to set me apart from all the other makeup artists and queens and kinda put me in my own lane so I wanted to put as much effort into this as possible.”
Lawrence is completely self-taught when it comes to make-up and has some advice for people who’d like to take their skills in beauty and fashion further – especially those on a budget.
“Ever since I was a kid I loved painting, so I would just paint pictures of monsters or of something I saw on TV, I don’t see drag makeup as anything different, only with my face or body as the canvas. I’m a self taught makeup artist too, I learnt everything I know, from constantly working to improve on the last attempt.
“As someone with very limited money, I’m not sponsored by anyone, I make pretty much everything myself which cuts costs too, I’ll preach to anyone to not pay someone to do something or make you something just because you can’t do it, because one day…you can. Source things in charity shops, any way you can hustle to keep the costs low but the lewks high end!”
Keep up with Lawrence via his Instagram.
