GIANNA BURLINI

Hair and Makeup Designer

BA Theatre Design and Technology/Fashion Minor

gfburlini@bsu.edu (847)-702-4186

Gianna is a Hair and Makeup Designer from Spring Grove, IL. Her areas of focus include character makeup and beauty. Some of her past show credits include The Children's Hour (Ball State University), Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (Ball State University), and Voodoo Visions (Sparrow Dance Company). Gianna is also studying fashion at Ball State and hopes to incorporate her love for nontraditional styles into her future Hair and Makeup designs.

Resume

Full Portfolio

Personal Website

Why did you choose your area of focus?

I have always felt that my appearance was one of my favorite ways to express my personality and creativity. I am also studying fashion here at Ball State, and ever since I was six years old I've been drawing sketches of clothes to go along with the crazy hair colors I wanted to try and the full face paint I planned to match my outfits (not my mom's favorite phase). Hair and makeup have always been a way for me to show my artistry in my everyday life, and to be able to translate that into something that can be seen by the masses, whether through theatre, film, fashion shows, you name it, is really a dream come true.

What does theatre mean to you?

Theatre is the reason I am who I am today. I started performing when I was 8 years old and continued on the performance track up until I came to Ball State. When I got here, I knew I was in the right family but never quite felt like I had found what I was meant to be doing. When I took my first stage makeup class, it instantly clicked, and I was so lucky to have amazing peers and faculty who encouraged me to change my path to include art. Theatre design combines everything I love: painting, drawing, performance, and people. It has given me the most amazing community where I feel like my artistic vision is both encouraged and built upon by all the incredible people I work with.

How did you adjust to COVID?

Covid was a really interesting time for me as a designer because it forced me to get a lot more creative with how I was executing my designs. Staying at home, I didn't have the same tools and materials as normal and I couldn't just run out to get them. I was making prosthetics out of hot glue and digging through my old halloween costumes for inspiration. Who knew my medusa costume from my sixth grade Greek Fest would've inspired me to create one of my favorite projects so far! Covid made me think a lot harder about how I create and how I can change the way I create going forward.