We were lucky to catch up with Kyrsta Morehouse recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kyrsta , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I was a kid who always kinda new I would do something in the creative world! I was an artsy, creative kid from day one and in seventh grade started attending a performing artists school. From then up through highschool I thought I would be an actress and knew I would never thrive as a lawyer, doctor, or insurance agent. I needed to make art, diversity in what a “day at the office” looked like each day, and a chance to create something new! When I turned 15 I discovered FX makeup and would hide out in my room – avoiding homework – and spend hours creating makeup wounds on my body to scare my family! I got bit by the makeup bug and I was hooked! I started working makeup jobs at 16 and got the ball rolling in my makeup career, which made the choice to move to LA and attend makeup school very easy. I started working in La right away and have been chasing that dream ever since.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a professional makeup artist and do everything from beauty and grooming to wild special effects and out of this world prosthetics. I have worked to carve out a niche for myself in unconventional beauty, mixing prosthetics and FX with beauty to create makeup/looks that you haven’t seen before! I have been lucky enough in my career to work with incredible creative minds like Nadia Lee Cohen and Pol Kurucz who share that vision and we have captured some really special magic over the years. I love that my career makes every day different; one day I’m on a movie set, the next I’m on set for A$AP Rocky’s Babushka Boi music video, then off to a celebrity do-and-go, and a month finished off with a campaign shoot for Gucci under department head Isamaya Ffrench! Everyday and every job is a new adventure! I love to push myself and push the boundaries of makeup!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think now more than ever this is an important topic. The film industry has been on strike since May 2, 2023 and that has dramatically impacted soooo many people’s careers and lives. I think it’s easy for people not in this industry to look at big, rich celebrities like Meryl Streep or Tom Cruise and not understand why there is a strike. But the strike isn’t for them! It’s for everyone else! For actors that don’t get paid residuals or a living wage, crew members not paid enough to pay bills despite working 12-16+ hour days, threats of AI taking our jobs, etc. I can’t event count how many crew members struggle to pay bills, work enough days to keep their insurance benefits, are afraid AI will replace them etc. It’s not a sustainable system but we keep fighting because we are doing what we love! And it’s what the public loves too! Imagine if the whole entertainment/movie/television industry went away! We all need it and need it to thrive – but to do that, we need a healthy, sustainable system for cast and crew to be able to work AND have a life that isn’t living penny to penny with fear of not being able to pay bills constantly looming over head. Not only are we not getting paid properly, but executives are making BILLIONS, have private jets, and try to tell us there isn’t enough money! Corporate greed is destroying lives and for us to win this strike, we need EVERYONE to stand with us!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I think there will always be moments of change in any career or life. For me my biggest one came due to a injury. I suffered a horrible knee injury that left me couch ridden for months, then stuck on crutches in a straight leg brace, had to learn to walk to again, only to require surgery a year later, followed by a horrific infection, all to learn to walk again, and to this day suffer chronic pain with it! It completely effected my work as I was bed ridden for months and unable to work. The process to get back to being able to work was grueling both physically and mentally. Even once I was able to work again, I have had to learn how I can work sustainably knowing that my knee can’t stand for excessive periods of time, there are certain limitations I now have, and I have to be able to listen to my body. There are jobs I used to be able to take that I simply cannot do anymore. That was a really tough pill to swallow and I still struggle with it when I reach points that my body tells me I cannot do what I want to do – and once could do! It’s been humbling to say the least when I need to check my ego and accept the reality of my physical limitations. Invisible illness and injury is such a real struggle for myself and so many others – you may not be able to tell we are hurting, but we are.
Contact Info:
- Website: Kyrstamorehouse.com
- Instagram: @kyrstamua