Cosplayer Of Color Profile: Lilhevn
To celebrate Black History Month, we take a moment to highlight seven cosplayers of color whose contributions to geek culture and the greater cosplay community go well beyond their costumes. Seventh up:
Lilhevn
Lilhevn came to New York City from South America in 1995 and fell in love with gaming and anime that same year. She met her first cosplay friends and got hooked on the con life at Big Apple Anime Fest in 2003. Soon after, she began cosplaying. From there she became an absolute wizard with Worbla.
One of the loveliest things about following the work of Lilhevn is that you actually get to see the work in progress. She posts a ton of step-by-step photos, including inspiration and information on types of armor and costume design. She’s also shared her expertise with fellow costumers at Generate.CM cosplay workshops in New York.
For Lilhevn, cosplay is a way to challenge her crafting abilities and to keep finding newer and better ways to create costumes and props. Besides sewing costumes from scratch, she works with craft foam, EVA foam, Wonderflex, Sintra, and Worbla.
Lilhevn has a few tips for people who are new to working with Worbla and Wonderflex. Keep a bowl of cool (but not cold) water nearby when handling the thermoplastics. After touching and molding the hot plastic, dip your fingers in the bowl to cool down your hands. She also recommends using thin craft foam to make a pattern for whatever armor or prop you want to build. Put a layer of craft foam underneath the Worbla, or sandwich the foam in between two pieces of Worbla to make the piece you’re working on more durable and comfortable. Lilhevn uses two to three layers of wood glue to coat and seal her armor and props before painting. Then, she gives everything a base of black paint before painting over it in the intended colors. To see how Lilhevn has made an amazing array of armor, props, accessories, and even glowing dragon eggs, check out her Facebook page.
For more incredible cosplayers of color, find and follow the #29DaysofBlackCosplay hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. And find Gogo Incognito at http://Facebook.com/GogoIncognito and http://Instagram.com/geekchicsuperfreak.
Featured photo by Brian Ngai Photography.
