Lifelike Figures | Second Skin

The first thing you will see when entering Lisa Bürcher's studio is a two meter tall headless Bigfoot. “I'm going to finish him soon” explains Lisa Bücher, “I plan to have him all set in autumn.” The Bigfoot sculpture will be exhibited at a museum, like most of Bücher's work. His feet are almost completed, with little details like dirt under the nails and pigmentation. A basket with colorful plastic curlers sits next to this scraggly creature. What does Bigfoot need curlers for? “I ordered special, premium artificial fur from the US for the body” explains Lisa Büscher, “but it still looks like an unstyled wig or if someone just glued a carpet on him. So I curled the fur with these curlers and sprayed it with steam to create more of a structure. I also thinned it out and felted it to give it a more realistic look.”“

Bücher, a trained make up artist and designer has specialized on life-sized silicone figures. Silicone has been used for prosthetics – special make up effects in films – for around ten years. It can be modelled to look very much like human skin without seeming too waxy.  “I've come to prefer working on figures instead of real humans because they can be quite a handful” says Lisa Bücher with a smile. Besides „Ich arbeite aber mittlerweile fast lieber an den Figuren als an echten Menschen, die sind nämlich manchmal sehr anstrengend“, lacht Lisa Büscher. Besides Bigfoot, she's made Neaderthal figurines for museums in Braunschweig and Münster and a female body with artificial limbs for a Bionik exhibition.

Bücher's creatures are something between art and handiwork – besides the museum work, Büscher has made a bunch of them for her own exhibition, which will feature drawings and prints and, amongst other things, a replica of Boticelli's Venus and a silicone self-portrait. Do her creatures ever freak her out? “Oh yes, it can be creepy. I had especially weird moments while making the self portrait. It's generally a strange feeling once I've put in the eyes. There's always a short moment of shock when you walk into the studio and find someone staring at you.”

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