Not many makeup artists would voluntarily put down their blush brushes to pick up scalpels and dissect human cadavers, but Erin McCarthy has been taking the road less travelled all of her life. 

Her career began in the fasion and beauty industry but after a turn studying under world renowned body painter Dany Sanz in Paris Erin's interests shifted to fx makeup. But inorder to acheive the highest levels of realism in her work and learn enough about the human form to be able to sculpt realistic prosthetics if required on a job, Erin decided to immerse herself in the study of the human form and so spent three years at the Florence Academy of Art where she studied under Robert BOdem, learning the methods of the Masters and eventually exhibiting in Europe before returning to Boston to set up her own studio, just after serving as artist in residence at the prestugious Galerie Schloss Weispach in Hallein, Austria.

McCarthy's work is so lifelike, she was honored by the Portrait Society of America with first place in its international juried competition in 2019 for a bust of her father entitled "Simple Man'. 

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.