Beauty and the Universe Meet in Circe Irasema’s Unique Wooden Art Sculptures

“For me, painting is a question of time,” says Circe Irasema, a contemporary artist based in Mexico City. Her work digs into how Western art has been shaped by the male gaze, and how that lens affects not just the subject but also the very materials and techniques passed down through history. To her, keeping that tradition alive often means keeping old power structures alive too.

So instead, she flips the script. Irasema uses a feminine approach, pulling in unexpected materials—bright eyeshadows, soft blush powders, even long acrylic nails—to build her wooden sculptures. It’s playful but also bold, rewriting the story of art through a different lens: one centered on women, beauty, fragility, and identity.

Her work dives into themes like the female body, transformation, intimacy, and domestic life. Each piece pushes back on traditional norms, asking us to rethink how we view women in art history. At the same time, it celebrates vulnerability and strength in equal measure.

For anyone interested in contemporary Mexican art, feminist artwork, or modern sculptures that carry cultural and personal depth, Irasema’s pieces stand out. They’re not just objects—they’re part of a bigger conversation about gender, identity, and the future of art history.

Circe Irasema mixes the world of beauty with the world of art in a way that feels totally fresh. She blends cosmetics and beauty tools—eyeshadow, blush, even acrylic nails—with traditional supplies like gouache and acrylic paint. From far away, her pieces look like classic paintings. But up close, you see a wild mix of crushed makeup and fine art materials, turning them into bold examples of mixed media art. It’s her way of saying makeup and self-expression belong in the world of contemporary fine art too.

The fragile nature of makeup plays a big role here. Anyone who’s ever dropped a compact knows how easily eyeshadow and blush powders can shatter. For Irasema, that fragility becomes symbolic. It connects with everyday emotions, identity, and feminine experiences, instead of just following academic or elite ideas of painting. She challenges the idea that fashion and makeup are shallow, showing how they carry deep cultural meaning and emotional weight.

A lot of this comes through in her series Cosmic Painting. The title plays on the link between the words “cosmos” and “cosmetics”—both tied to order and beauty. She pulls from that ancient Greek idea, which even shaped Renaissance art through symmetry and geometry. But instead of oil and marble, she uses makeup powders, paint, and wood to rebuild those old beauty standards in her own way.

Her goal is simple but powerful: to redefine what painting can be through feminist artwork, cosmetic-inspired art, and contemporary Mexican vision. The result is colorful, emotional, and a little rebellious—a reminder that beauty and art have always been connected.

Irasema is currently preparing for a solo exhibition at Carrillo Gil Art Museum and creating works for Art Basel Miami. Follow her practice on Instagram.