SA MOM SERVES UP HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL-EFFECTS MAGIC
Queen Motlatle perfects prosthetics and special effects make-up in her own style, writes Thobile Mazibuko
MEET Queen Motlatle, a professional make-up artist and a well-travelled single mother. Her dream was to be Miss South Africa but when that didn’t happen, she started a career as a make-up artist.
Today, Motlatle is an international make-up artist with a Master’s degree in Special Effects from Hollywood. She is a bundle of energy andcomes from humble beginnings as a counter manager for Revlon at Edgars. From then, her trajectory knew no bounds and her career shot her onwards and upwards.
She is the head of House of Queen, a 360-degree grooming service company providing make-up, hair, prosthetic special effects, body painting, styling and creative directorship services.
As a creator and make-up designer who enjoys what she’s doing, she was awarded an opportunity to work on the movie District 9 and then went to Los Angeles to perfect this specialised craft.
She now does prosthetics and special-effects make-up to prepare a character for a specific role. Motlatle has created special effects of people being burnt and bruised and, as a result, one of her interns, Thabiso Mokoena posted the images on social media, claiming it to be his work.
“On October 31, House of Queen held a marketing event to showcase our services to the media and prospective clients.We have since learnt with dismay that one of our interns, Thabiso Mokoena, (@Yummy_ kev on twitter, Kevin Thabiso on Facebook) is claiming this work as his own on social media networks.
“This is a complete misrepresentation of the facts, indeed a clear-cut case of plagiarism. We wish to clarify the background and make absolutely clear whose work this is.“
Motlatle continues to share her disappointment with the plagiarism committed by her intern, who even received publicity by claiming Motlatle’s work as his own.
“It therefore comes as a complete disappointment to learn that an intern who has only been with the programme for two months would claim the work of trained professionals as his own. The work which Thabiso claims as his own, was in fact created and designed by Queen Motlatle. She then mandated her students, Thabiso among them, to add on to the various pieces. This exercise falls in line with the training programme run by the school.”
Mokoena is not a qualified make-up artist. He has a National Diploma in Performing Arts but no portfolio.
“As management, we are incredibly concerned as this is a clear case of plagiarism, and a violation of the contract. Not only has Thabiso claimed the work, he has not credited House of Queen. Indeed, he has attached his personal contact details to the visuals for anyone interested in acquiring these services to contact him directly.
“Thabiso holds a National Diploma in Performing Arts from the Tshwane University of Technology. He has only been studying at the House of Queen Learning Academy for two months and has no portfolio of evidence to showcase his work. He has not worked on movies, thrillers etc as per his claims in his original post,” read the House of Queen statement.
Motlatle has worked on big projects across the world. Her biggest achievements are The Lion King (theatre), being part of the Fifa World Cup as head creative designer and conceptualising the make-up, designing make-up for District 9; being part of Chris Rock’s Kill the Messenger tour and working with Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma.
She would like to see more special-effects work in local content being used and more women in the field of prosthetics and special effects. To see more of her work, visit www.houseofqueen.com