The Mask We Wear

Lou Rie turns people into twisted lookalikes of pop celebrities, iconic figures and archetypes through a process that mimics plastic surgery. Instead of using Botox and a scalpel, she sculpts the new personas with her hands and brushes, wiping the model's identity under layers of paint and raw materials. She eventually captures the living sculptures in photo and video.
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Lou Rie and Karl Lagerfeld
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Portrait of a courtesan - process
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Brigitte Macron
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Marilyn Manson
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Balance ton cochon
​Lou Rie has performed over a hundred X-metic surgeries in more than a dozen countries.  In this artistic experiment, gender, origin and social class blend together. Beneath each sculpture lies a unique story.
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Tintin Bickle
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Façade, interactive video installation, Montreal, Canada, 2020
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Marilyn Morue - Façade, interactive video installation, Montreal, Canada, 2020
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Quentin Tarantino
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David Lynch

No matter who her subject is, or how visible they are in the public eye, Desmeules uses her paintbrush as a “scalpel” to brilliantly disfigure and dissect the exterior image, thereby uncovering a powerful—and universal—sense of human vulnerability. ​

Evan Hayley

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Obama Disney
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Karl Lagerfeld
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Bashar wears Prada
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Mozart
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Barbie girl
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Amy Winehouse
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Black Swan
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Hulk Hogan
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Rambo
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Fist of Beethoven
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Ivanka Trump
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Iggy Pop
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This is not Melania Trump
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Trump-l'oeil
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Kim Jong-un
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Mona Lisa
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Sigmund Freud
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Waiting for the train
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Black Cobra
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ZZ Top
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Cameleon Man
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Hipnosis
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QAnon Warrior