Life & Work with Lydia Morales

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia Morales.

Hi Lydia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am originally from the East Coast born first-generation into a bi-racial family – my father being from Puerto Rico and my mother Irish American. I have been working in the design and photography business since college but found my interest in hands-on work and makeup far surpassed my interest in the digital.

Somehow through the years doing makeup applications followed me from high school- everything from prom to sorority formals, Halloween applications, personal photoshoots for clients and business headshots. When I realized the vastness of the film and makeup industry and the potential to make this my full-time dream – I set my mind to LA, saved up and made the big move not knowing a soul – to Hollywood. I then set to my studies and made it my purpose to begin carving out a resume and experience in every opportunity and aspect of makeup that I could. I used my digital experience to help support my life, as well as break into the digital era of makeup through digital manipulations, character mockups, photoshoots and custom edits. Through these various opportunities, I thankfully, have been able to try a ton of types of projects across the board as well as creatively collaborate with some amazing minds, which helped me fully visualize what I wanted to achieve in this industry.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My road has wrapped up and down mountains ranges, I would say – but overall every challenge, every failure, every experience has been learning foreword. I believe no experience is wasted; you can mold yourself from those experiences as well as mold the future that you foresee. It can be hard to find a group of artists who want to all move forward together collaboratively more than competitively, especially in a male-dominated industry with strong traditional ethics in an underpaid environment (for the most part). I believe over the years, I was lucky enough to meet some of the best souls who have challenged and pushed me personally and professionally which enabled me to grow within this environment that much more since being in LA, making all of the struggles worthwhile.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am primarily a special makeup effects artist. I usually apply or create custom makeup through the use of character design and prosthetics. These makeups can be everything from full creature, to old age makeup, to wounds and injuries. I have recently started to mold my career to specialize in of color makeup design and application. Growing up, I experienced a lot of racism being from a small conservative town. I was a target for most of my life. It seemed to loom over my personal life experiences and I later found that it also followed me professionally as well as being ostracized and harassed for being both gay and a woman.

Through my experiences however, and through speaking with other artists who have been in similar situations or worse, I was able to figure out exactly what I would like to do professionally. There is a huge void in the film industry in general for diverse roles for women and people of color as well as proper representation, whether it is actors, or makeup artists or general crew members. I would love to be able to appropriately and beautifully create custom prosthetics and applications with a team of artists in a safe space specializing in of color makeup to ensure representation, application and inclusiveness all are done the right way through flawless makeup execution for the big screen. It is far past the time for this not to be a serious niche within the industry. I hope that I am able to crack it open for new opportunities within the industry, as I have started to.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Reaching out via social media, email or my website is the best way to contact me. I am always looking for collaborative projects with different types of professionals to challenge and create new art. It is simple to support your local artists; just by sharing their art via social media or word of mouth is an easy and free way to show us some love.

Contact Info:

• Email: diaamorales@gmail.com
• Website: www.lydiamoralesmua.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lydiamorales.mua
• Other: etsy.com/shop/MoralesFX

Image Credits
Pink Sweat$ & Muddy Water Productions, CBS Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove, The Blond Experiment, Snapchat Spectacles, The Rundown with Erin Lim