Lycoread

Revealing the magic inside

Recently, we teamed up with a truly innovative artist, Yael Morowati to see (and feel) our wellness extracts up close and personal like never before.  The project saw Yael for the first time shoot the ingredients found in our wellness extracts. We asked her to share with us her expectations coming into the project, and what she sees now after her journey with us. 

The world of Lycored is colorful, vibrant and dare I say, sticky. In the past 20 years, I’ve never worked with tomatoes or tomato extract as an ingredient, so I was excited to try something new. I had no idea what to expect, the color, texture and consistency were all uncharted territories for me.

With most product photo shoots, I typically have an idea of what I want to capture (sharp shadows or a more minimalistic approach). With Lycored, stepping out of my own comfort zone and doing something that was unrecognizable from my typical work was my main goal. It just so happened that Lycored provided me with the creative license to go wild, so I did just that and jumped in.

Once I tapped into the ingredients, they took on a life of their own. I thought I wouldn’t have enough to work with as Lycored shipped the ingredients in small vials straight from Israel. That fear was quelled as it turned out I had more than enough. Lumenato and Lycomato (natural tomato extracts) are rich in nutrients, potent and vibrant.

I was stunned by how they reacted to other ingredients and oils.  It’s not everyday I work with such viscous, color-packed ingredients. Melted lipsticks (mixed with oil paint and some molasses) probably come the closest to describing how rich and thick Lumenato is. I turned to experimenting with palette knives and temperatures, letting the pastes heat up under the hot sun. For the videos and animations, I diluted them with coconut oil to loosen them up and make it easier to work with. I relied on some poly (methyl methacrylate) sheets (also known as acrylic glass) and then poured the bright extracts onto acrylic blocks. The rest is top secret. 

I was covered in Lumenato almost from head to toe in 92-degree humid weather in the garden. Imagine a 5-year old whose hands and lips are covered in chocolate, and replace that with a thick gummy red/orange lipstick matter. At one point, I gave up trying to clean up the Lumento and just applied it like you would lip gloss. It stayed on for the rest of the day.

There’s usually an element of predictability with the products I shoot, not in a disappointing way, but I usually know what I’m working with. But with Lumenato and Lycomato, I wasn’t able to force the substance nor the outcome, so I had to give up control. That shows up in the videos in really surprising ways, as they took over the visual landscape, bleeding beyond every corner and boundary. Most of my videos are contained, or the elements are floating on isolated white backgrounds. Not this time, colors burst and ooze from every direction.

 

 

Yael Morowati has photographed well over 275 notable cosmetic brands including Sunday Riley and May Lindstrom. Yael’s work has been published in VOGUE, The CUT, Harper’s Bazaar, Live Kindly, Elle, Glamour.