How does an artist honor her heroes? Matching the playful “anything goes” aesthetic of its subject, this film explores the photographic and video work of Brooklyn-based artist Jaimie Warren as she recreates a wild array of pop culture characters. Coming of age in Wisconsin in the 1980s and 1990s, Warren learned to love the out-sized personalities and distinct looks of “weirdos” like Freddy Krueger, Miss Piggy, Grace Jones, Elvira, and Dolly Parton. Inspired by do-it-yourself Halloween costumes, Warren traces the evolution of her photographic work, from impromptu goofs to more elaborately art-directed portraits. “Seeing what I’m capable of with the resources that I have, it’s just fun for me,” she explains. “I especially like the grosser or weirder it can be from me but—not just covering myself up with a costume—being able to see that it’s me but that I look completely different.” At the American Medium gallery in Brooklyn, Warren rehearses and shoots her latest work—a music video inspired by singer Freddie Mercury and a 14th-Century religious painting—with a group of friends and long-time collaborators.
From the series, "New York Close Up"