For make-up artist Lucia Perešová, using make-up as an art medium rather than something just for everyday use has shaped her practice. She began using Instagram as a platform to share her looks, coming under the name Gemini Blush. Lucia uses her face as a canvas to draw, paint and transform herself. Playing around with the concept of surrealism, she enjoys applying make-up in a way that creates illusion and breaks the laws of physics. She also incorporates femininity within her designs, such as her drawings of flowers and hearts or her use of pastel blushes. Lucia chats to Coeval about her artistic practice and the future of Gemini Blush.

What initially prompted you to begin creating such unique make-up looks?

A few years ago I'd found myself with a lot of new makeup that was sitting mostly untouched in my drawer. New beauty stores started opening in Slovakia and up until that point, you could either buy drugstore or luxury makeup - there wasn't much choice in between. So when more popular mid-range brands started appearing in the stores, I was excited and naturally wanted to try everything. Except then I would come home and realise that I was either too scared of ruining whatever beautiful eye shadow palette I'd bought that day or simply that I had nowhere to wear the makeup to, so I wouldn't bother putting it on. Then I had my light bulb moment and started seeing make-up as simply an art medium rather than a necessity or something that had to be applied in a certain way. From there it was easy - I've always loved art and this gave me a chance to take it from the paper to a 3D medium, which is a lot of fun.

Coming from Slovakia, how does your heritage influence you?

I wouldn't say my heritage influences my art in any visible way. Slovakia is a tiny country and our people had to fight for their freedom more often than not. At times we weren't even a country as such, our language was officially codified only in the 1840s and we have quite a rocky political past. So I'd say what inspires me is a certain set of attitudes and the amount of perseverance all of this took.

Many of your designs are illusions, some are even slightly uncomfortable to look at – but what are they inspired by?

I just really like working around and WITH the medium - my face. Sometimes I just want to paint pretty flowers on it, sometimes it's fun to transform it into something completely alien. I love surrealism and the concept of taking something familiar and tweaking it so the familiarity stays, but the object itself doesn't make sense or looks like it's actively breaking every possible law of physics.

I noticed you have created looks copied from famous artworks by artists such as Claude Monet and Salvador Dalí. What is it about this Modern Art period that you are so fond of?

Definitely the diversity of it, new, provocative ideas and the innovation.

How do create such intricate work, as you must have to use alternative make-up techniques and materials?

Once you realise that you can mix and match everything in makeup just like you would in traditional art, it gets pretty easy! There's a substitute for pretty much everything these days - there's oil based face paint, water based face paint, instead of linseed oil you can use Duraline to thin your materials. You can even use paint brushes on your face to make things easier (and much cheaper!). It all just takes a little bit of preparation since skin breathes and produces its own oils, but that's nothing some loose powder couldn't handle. I also use a magnifying mirror to paint details.

Your Instagram account ‘@geminiblush’ has almost 200k followers, what do you think has made your account become so popular?

Truth be told, I'm not quite sure! Probably (somewhat) quality photography and (somewhat) original ideas.

Do you feel a pressure to constantly create new work and come up with new concepts?

Sometimes, though I've forced myself to learn how to relax and just let it go. It's okay to just paint mindlessly or recreate a bunch of looks, the inspiration will come eventually. Sometimes it's within an hour, sometimes it's a month later. I think the trick is in learning how to push yourself, but not beyond the point of burnout.

What can we expect to see in the future from Gemini Blush?

I'd love to do a few more complex projects - I have some ideas, I just need to sit down and really plan them. I'm also trying to figure out my filming set up right now, so some videos might be coming soon.