Body Art, in the modern age, it can be extreme, the subject of performance, even a bit abstract.
Body Art has its roots are grounded in the indigenous experience, a crucial part of social and spiritual expression, of rites of passage, it can even demonstrate a person's position in a given social group.
But for artist Trina Merry, whose taken to creating the kind of body art that grounds her subjects within their environments body Art can be positively transformative.
7News met up with the world Champion Body Artist as she made Instagram Influencer Shaniki Hernandez disappear into Altun Ha. Cherisse Halsall has the story - but we warn you, while it is art, it may not be suitable for younger viewers.
The Incan Citadel of Macchu Picchu often called "The Lost City Of The Inca" appears here in all its formidable splendour. But if you look a bit closer you'll see that there's a second subject in this landscape, a man in the nude perfectly painted into his surroundings.
It's called body art and this week the Artist, Trina Merry has brought her skills to Belize. We stood with her in the shadow of Altun Ha and asked how one gets into body painting, she says her beginnings were literally an extreme shock to the system.
Trina Merry, World Champion Body Painter
"Well I became a body painter by accident I actually got struck by lightning while I was in Hollywood and I went to the woods to kind of get away from all the electrical lines just meditating in the woods and my friends band invited me out to come see their show and asked me to stand on stage and actually get body painted, like be the model and experience body paint for their opening act and I was like absolutely not, no way I'm getting on stage and after having a couple of nice little cocktails I found myself on stage having the most amazing experience of life. It was an entirely life-changing experience and if I hadn't been struck by lightning, I would not be the body painter that I am today."
When coming to Belize, Trina and her model Becca created body paint masterpieces at both Cerros and Lamanai.
Becca Lucha, Art Model
"Last night, yesterday afternoon we were at Lamanai and we were at the masked temple which is a tomb for I guess one of the ancient rulers and it was just I was standing on this stone that was like right outside where there was a the mask behind me. And it was just yeah, I was transported like to 2000 years ago and it was just like go yes, I got chills a couple times."
And that experience is one that a few Belizeans will be lucky enough to have with the first being model and influencer Sheniki Hernandez.
Sheniki Hernandez, Influencer/ Art Model
"I was super excited to be a part of this like I couldn't even believe it and I'm so happy to be able to show my country."
Trina Merry, World Champion Body Painter
"There is an energy, there is a beautiful energy exchange that happens with body painting because you are, there is electricity flowing form one person to another, um, and there is a very beautiful unity between myself and my subject, um, I feel especially when I come to an amazing site like this gorgeous ancient Mayan ruin, um, that these people are connecting with me that I can you know body paint was such an amazing part of the indigenous Mayan culture and so from an art history standpoint I feel super honored and connected to the people that lived and worked here and their amazing beautiful culture. I feel so privileged that in the contemporary art world I can carry that through in my own expressive practice."
Cherisse Halsall:
"We have to ask, the woke generation is come for you and say well this is cultural appropriation, how do you come back at them?"
Trina Merry, World Champion Body Painter
"Um, I understand where that is coming from but I am trying to infuse as many partnerships with Belizean as possible so I am taking the gifts that I have to elevate them and help them have a platform to tell their stories, um, and trying to collaborate as much as possible with Belizean, I am not in any way trying to take over the culture or approach it from a manner of this is how I view your culture or here is how your culture should be. In other words, I am coming here quietly, blending in learning, listening, interacting with Mayans and Belizean and with these amazing locations and the amazing partnerships that I have had to just kind of, um, to learn, I'm here to learn."
But why paint nude models? Trina explained that the practice is more grounded and authentic when her subjects are free to be truly who and what they are.
Trina Merry, World Champion Body Painter
"First of all the reason why I really care about painting on the skin I'm passionate about it because each painting that I do has a heartbeat, it has a twinkle in the eye, I could paint on Canvas and I have, I've sculpted, I've done many different kinds of performance art but body paint is soon mean it's life, it's happy, it's joy there is love there, that is exchanged, that's beautiful and, um, while I could paint on people over clothes and I certainly have done that before for certain projects and there are ways to accomplish that, to me that is fashion and it's shame and I am trying to remove shame and tell the story of what indigenous body painters did which is painted directly on the skin."
"By removing the clothing by looking at the person, we get to see who is this person, what is the twinkle in their eye, what is that, where is the life, where is the love there so I think that it's more true to the story of the Mayans and to the culture of Belize to see the person."
Merry will remain in the country for a week and a half travelling through the districts and creating body art out of a few famous Belizeans. Her goal is to attract a wider array of tourist interest to Belize's iconic sites.
