Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry Hennessy.
Hi Kerry, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in San Diego and had a pretty idyllic Southern California childhood. Movies were always big in my house; my dad is a writer and had written several screenplays, so my summer memories growing up were often visiting sets in Utah to watch the filming of his movies. He’s also a historian and an avid reader and was always storytelling at home – mostly about world history – which really sparked my imagination. He would use the salt and pepper shaker or the ketchup bottle at the dinner table to illustrate warring nations’ positions for a battle or to lay out the assassination of JFK. He made history feel alive and really instilled that fascination in me. Add to that that my grandmother, who lived with us, was a world-class seamstress and taught me (or tried to teach me) everything she knew, and you have a pretty good recipe for a Costume Designer.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Art is a difficult path. It can be really hard to make ends meet, especially when you’re starting out and trying to carve out your niche. Like many other artists, I worked multiple jobs for years while moonlighting in the theater just to be able to practice my craft. That’s no longer the case fortunately but looking back, I genuinely consider it a blessing. It has made me a far more well-rounded person and artist than I would have been otherwise. I waited tables of course and worked in a movie theater, but I also worked at The Director’s Guild, and hospitals in both medical and psych units, and a non-profit supporting wounded veterans, and I taught kindergarten. Not only did these detours give me a level of perspective and life experience I wouldn’t trade for the world, but they also showed me that I can do anything. I have so much more faith in myself and my value to the world, knowing that I’m not solely defined by the career path I choose. That’s true for everyone, but I think our society puts a lot of pressure on us to intertwine our identity with our work, and that can feel like a trap. We are all so much more than just what we do!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I studied theater design at UC Irvine and after graduating, I worked in the costume shop at an opera company. That’s where I really honed my crafting skills and learned to dye and distress costumes, which I found I truly loved. I was lucky enough to meet an astounding group of creatives in college, and together we formed a theatre company called Rogue Artists Ensemble, of which I was the resident Costume Designer for many years. The amount of experimentation and exploring I was able to do creatively was a tremendous gift. The work I did in those years remains some of my proudest as a designer, and I was honored to receive two Ovation Award nominations with that company. I transitioned into television and film, and have been fortunate to design in a wide range of genres, have premiered at Sundance and SXSW film festivals, and recently even earned a BAFTA nomination for my work on a live-action video game called Immortality.
My approach to Costume Design is more character-based than fashion or clothing-based. Fashion is obviously a component, as well as color theory, silhouette, etc., but really I’m fascinated by psychology and how costume can support character development. I want to get inside a character’s spirit and figure out why they make the choices they make, just like a writer, production designer, or actor does. Costumes are just kind of my particular medium or tool for doing that. It’s especially fun when the world the character inhabits is wacky, outlandish, and cartoonish – the possibilities just become endless!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risk-taking is essential to living a full, authentic life. I firmly believe we don’t grow when we’re comfortable. Putting yourself out there and trying something you may not immediately be great at is imperative for building confidence. That said, I do prefer to keep my risk-taking in my work sphere. In my personal life, I’m a very chill homebody these days! I like to lay by the pool or hang with my pets more than just about anything in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kerrycostumes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerryboone/
Image Credits
Ovation Awards photo (3rd photo) – Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging Gogol Project (Masked performer with pink dress & purple hat) photo (4th photo) – Bobby Brown All others – me
