A portrait of former broadcaster and style icon Lee-Lin Chin by George Fetting, created in 2004. Type C photograph on paper measuring 120 centimetres high by 95 centimetres wide.
Lee-Lin Chin is photographed from the waist up, facing front on and standing against a white wall. Her face is made-up in the traditional Japanese ‘geisha’ style of makeup in contrast to her Chinese-Malay heritage.
Her salt and peppered hair is cropped short and stands upright to frame her face, the light grey and white hairs at the front transitioning to black towards the back. Her face and neck are painted a chalky white. Her eyebrows are arched over almond-shaped eyes softly outlined in black pencil liner. Her eyes are opened wide in a dramatic fashion highlighting the whites of her eyes framing brown irises. Below her cheekbones, pale pink blush has been sparingly applied. Her plump lips have been covered in white makeup to disguise their natural shape. A vibrant crimson-red lipstick transforms her mouth to create an illusion of a small flower bud.
The white paint on her neck tapers out to a hazy edge, smudged around her collarbone and revealing her bare- skinned shoulders. Her arms are concealed in the bandeau of black silk folded under the fabric. The bandeau stops at waist height revealing the bare skin of her lower torso.
Audio description script written by Alana Sivell and voiced by Kate Matthews