Christabel Stewart: Where do you think your interest in image-making came from?

Simon Costin: As a child I used it as a more immediate way of communicating things that I was unable to describe. Dreams fed into projects, which I then tried to realise. I made and drew things from a very early age and have consequently never stopped.

Christabel Stewart: You are part of a new generation of 'multi-taskers' whose roles span art direction and set design. How did you get involved in this aspect of fashion image-making?

Simon Costin: I trained in Theatre Design at Wimbledon School of Art having done a 2-year Foundation course. At the time, the Wimbledon course was very broadly structured as they realised that other disciplines were equally important. I made over 50 Super-8 films while there, encouraged at the time by our part-time tutor, Derek Jarman. To be honest the multi-taskers have been around for a very long time. Derek trained in painting, went on to design sets for film and theatre and then made films himself, as well as being in contact with many people in the fashion industry. He was a huge inspiration to other people of my generation who were around at the time. Of course many other artists throughout history have worked in more than one discipline, but that's another discussion. As for my involvement in fashion, once I had left college, I began making jewellery and body sculptures, usually being in control of how these were photographed.

Having gained a certain notoriety and press, some warranted and some not, a student at Central St Martin's wrote to me asking if he could borrow several pieces for his degree show. I contributed about 10 pieces, many of which were especially created. The student was Alexander McQueen. At this time I had also been asked by a friend to design a set for her first pop promo. Over the next few years I went on to work with Lindy Heyman on over 40 videos. It was a steep learning curve and much of it was learnt as I went along. At the same time, Lee asked me to help put some sets together for his shows. These became increasingly elaborate over the years. Eventually we parted company and I was able to work for a range of other designers as I am still doing. Also, alongside the fashion show work, I kept making my own work, which became far more installation based over the years. I am often being invited to make site specific work and gallery based installations.

Christabel Stewart: How do you incorporate your own ideas into those given to you in the form of a brief?

Simon Costin: This is quite hard to answer, as so often the briefs are wildly different depending on the work. In the commercial sector, clients can either have a specific idea of what they need and it becomes more a series of aesthetic choices which I dictate, or the brief can be hugely vague allowing me far more freedom to incorporate my own ideas. A vague brief can sometimes be a nightmare though, as it means that the client doesn't really know what they want and much time is wasted trying to find out. Often though, if a client has asked for me specifically, they are usually aware of my work and so will not ask me to do something that would not sit within my visual world as it were. As to what that is, I'm still trying to find out.

Christabel Stewart: How do you reconcile the performative elements of your approach with the resultant still image? Is the process evident in the finished image?

Simon Costin: A tricky one. I am usually aware at the beginning of a project how the various elements should sit together, however, during the making of a piece of work changes often occur. The general framework for an idea always has to allow for a degree of flexibility, which is healthy anyway and can often lead to things which were not originally in ones mind to play themselves out to a better effect than was thought of at first.

Christabel Stewart: You have collaborated on 'Faith' with Sharon Dowsett and Nick Knight. The work addresses who or what people turn to in difficult times and suggests how that combination of human desperation, hope and ultimately, faith might look. How did you approach this collaboration and formulate the aesthetic ideas to carry this abstract idea through?

Simon Costin: The idea for the project came about almost 5 years ago, when I was in Athens. I was walking around the National Museum and came across the most beautiful death mask, lying on a cushion. It was partly made from wax and completely covered in jewels. It almost looked like a sleeping woman wearing elaborate make-up. I didn't have a camera with me but I made a little sketch. It stayed on my pinboard at home for a year or so and then one day while working on a fashion shoot with Sharon I told her about how it had haunted me. As we talked about it we discussed how various cultures have used the mask to express internal states of being, often in a religious context or as a rite of passage. Sharon had recently been experimenting with a form of body jewellery - wafer thin pieces of double-sided sticky plastic which could be covered in something and applied to the face. We decided that it would be an interesting idea to develop the technique and to explore the idea of the 'living mask' further.

It was some time before we could get together again, due to our workloads, but finally we met at my studio and my assistant at the time kindly let Sharon get to work. The final result was incredibly beautiful and I took some pictures to record it. The more that Sharon and I thought about it, the more it was obvious that the faces could not just be purely decorative, as for both of us it was a far bigger idea. Sharon had found the technique and we now needed to wed it to something meaningful to both of us. I have long been fascinated by folklore, mythology and magical practice and so put together a series of visual references while Sharon set about researching various world religions. Over the next year, Sharon amassed a huge amount of material and in a way the project became something of a personal odyssey for both of us, bringing up many questions of how we both viewed organised religions and our own personal beliefs systems, if any. Sharon found various contacts within the Christian Church and I had several within the Pagan community which all helped to feed the creation of the images.

Around this time Sharon mentioned a friend who was a film-maker called Gary Tarn. Gary was interested asking people why they prayed and to who. Nick felt that the prayers should come from ordinary people and not necessarily religious leaders as such. Gary set about collecting prayers from people on the street with a dictaphone. The majority of people had come to pray due to some kind of personal misfortune within their lives rather than being inherently 'religious'.

As the project developed Sharon and I decided that there should be 7 faces and rather than being specifically aligned to a given religious system, they should use universal symbols such as the elements, Fire, Air, Water and Earth with the 5th being Spirit. We added Flesh and Death. Sharon and I worked incredibly well and we fed off each other in a very creative way, as Sharon would stop me from getting too dark and I was able to understand how make-up can be used to show the shadow side as well as the purely beautiful. Sharon's assistant Andrew Gallimore was instrumental in making up the main pieces and would liase between Sharon and I whenever we were in the country. Next came the problem of finding a model who would also be able to recite the prayers as Nick was keen to have film footage to use on SHOWstudio as well as the still images. Sharon had recently worked with an actress called Nina Young, a very beautiful and accomplished actress who agreed to become involved with the project. By the time we came to start, the faces drew reference from Anatomy, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Pagan symbolical philosophy, the Fish and Bird as a symbol for Christ, Talismanic jewels, Voodoo and Candomble practice, and the Faith of Islam.

Christabel Stewart: Considering your substantial experience with catwalk presentation as live, theatrical setting what was your approach to creating a piece with a motion-image outcome?

Simon Costin: The final live footage was very still and close-up and all the more intense because of that. Nick and Gary worked to direct Nina, and because of Sharon's well developed technique the make-up still allowed for a large degree of expression from Nina. The combination of these incredible faces moving and also delivering some, often very moving words, sets up a very disconcerting feeling in the viewer.

Christabel Stewart: What attracted you to a career in make-up?

Sharon Dowsett: Since an early age I've been interested in the transforming ability of make-up. I went to a progressive primary school and was able to get away with wearing lipstick. However, my strict grammar school was not so open-minded and my excesses were confined to the weekend. My mum's green and blue creamy eyelids were inspirational and I practised [make up application] on aunts at weddings. After studying languages and working in the travel industry for some years, I swerved back to my first passion and struggled to get a foot on the professional ladder. The first opportunity arose whilst working with Laurence Olivier on a stage production called 'Time'. Listening to his 70 year old make-up artist telling tales of Vivien Leigh's 40-minute lip application in Gone With The Wind had me hooked.

Christabel Stewart: What role do you think make-up has now in fashion image making?

Sharon Dowsett: Huge! They're hand-in-hand, especially with collaborations such as trailblazer Pat McGrath and visionary designer John Galliano. The make-up artist's place in the creative team is increasingly recognised and important. It's all about teamwork - you don't stand alone in this business and would never progress without suggestions, challenges and support. The photographer, designer and stylist have ultimate control but the make-up artist's opinion and input is welcomed, vital to the balance and outcome of the image. From a commercial standpoint, fashion sells make-up and vice-versa so it's a collaboration that will continue and become increasingly powerful. Make-up lines that are make-up artist driven are the most successful.

Christabel Stewart: Can you describe your approach to developing an idea. Does it often spring from your imagination, a brief or develop in the physical application?

Sharon Dowsett: Yes to all three, and including research. In the case of 'Articles of Faith', we looked at books on anatomy, nature, tribes and religions. Nick initiated the brief and Simon directed the designs from the start. The make-up always develops in the physical application and I'm a great believer in making accidents work for you! Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing and ask my subject if they've had an interesting dream lately! It can be as simple as twisting colours from an oil painting and looking into the shadows. The process is always carried along by teamwork and I don't think you can complete such a journey alone. I love working in a collective and feed off other creatives, from illustrators to designers to other make-up artists. Usually I'm inspired directly by the world around me and have critical eyes despite my shortsightedness.

Christabel Stewart: How did this particular collaboration come about with Nick Knight and Simon Costin?

Sharon Dowsett: Way back in 1999, Simon Costin asked me to collaborate on a bejewelled face for Joop!. The following year, Simon approached 'V' magazine as to whether they would be interested in featuring a series of crystal encrusted faces. Their positive response led Simon to approach me again and he asked whether I had any suggestions regarding photographers. I believe in starting at the top, so of course I asked Nick Knight! We were working together on 10th September 2001 and I popped the question. Nick intimated that he would be interested if he could use the material for SHOWStudio and we agreed to a two-pronged project of film and stills. Then disaster hit the next day and when we met the following week to discuss the project, Nick said that he wanted the theme to be about religion.

A few months later I was introduced to filmmaker Gary Tarn who had the idea of a documentary entitled 'What do you Pray and What do you Say' so I immediately roped him in. He very graciously assisted my research and collected prayers from [people on] the street. Nick wanted to hear from real people in desperate situations, although some of the prayers are more down-to-earth and almost comic despite their poignancy. The same night I met actress Nina Young and was struck by her classic beauty, especially her ethereal eyes and the even spacing of her features. She agreed to participate and star in our project but the first application of make-up landed her in casualty! We trod very carefully thereafter...

Christabel Stewart: This project has a very strong feeling of theatre and performativity. What were your sources?

Sharon Dowsett: The project is primarily about the power of prayer. Man has always tried to get in touch with the divine and often dresses up or wears a mask to communicate with his god or gods (apart from Christianity which teaches that you can speak directly through Jesus). Most of the time there's an element of costume and ritual involved in religions to intimidate or inspire awe. I was concerned about using religious symbols when I had little knowledge so tried to study the differences between them (I couldn't find many!). Eventually the symbolism became more about nature and the elements (fish, flesh, fire, forest etc.) and less about separate beliefs. Simon was extremely instrumental in providing references and leading the make-up designs. We met on several occasions and each time progressed our ideas further. They became increasingly horrific but I wanted to keep some positivity. The tension between light and dark worked in the final images.

Christabel Stewart: Make-up has been discussed as a 'third medium'. This project takes it almost into costume. Where do you draw the line between your role and Simon's as set designer?

Sharon Dowsett: The line is very blurred! I don't think of Simon as a set designer but as an art director. He was incredibly hands-on and I would never have created the finished faces without his tremendous input. It was truly a collaboration that he incited. We were almost dressing the face so I suppose it was more costume than make-up, especially with accessories such as crystals and sequins (and tiger claws and feathers and clay and sweet wrappers...). What made application more difficult was the fact that mobility was required for the prayer recitals. My full-time assistant Andrew Gallimore spent weeks creating the main pieces with advice from skin jewellery designer J Maskrey and I received invaluable help from special effects make-up artist Tanya Noor.

Christabel Stewart: There appears to be quite a strongly defined gender distinction in the fashion world between make-up artists, which is generally the preserve of females, and hairdressing where key figures are men. What do you think about this and the role of feminity in your own practice?

Sharon Dowsett: I think women are generally more gentle and less heavy handed, although I'm enjoying the work of many male make-up artists coming up through the ranks who employ colour with a light touch. I'm not sure that it's mainly the preserve of females: Dick Page, Stefan Marais, Kevyn Aucoin, Way Bandy, Fred Farugia, Francois Nars and Tom Pecheux all spring to mind as male make-up greats. Women don't seem to be accepted so readily in the hairdressing world, which I don't understand, but perhaps they're not firm enough in their touch (or attitude!). There are probably more women than men in high street salons but they don't seem to make the leap to session work. Maybe men's opinion is more highly regarded or perhaps they're the perfect flip side to all those women make-up artists. As most male hairdressers seem to be gay I'm not sure that beauty's not entirely a feminine business.