SFX and Prosthetic Artist: Gore and So Much More
Featuring Samantha Mileski
Samantha is a Cuber, Prosthetic Artist, SFX Makeup Artist, and Fabricator (and like many of us holds many other titles and skillsets). Her love of the SFX world spawned from a job in high school where she did the makeup and performed in a haunted house! She loved the play of it all and being hands-on. In her senior year of high school, she only had one credit left (a gym credit nonetheless) so she built out the rest of her schedule to be decked with art classes. Her ceramics and sculptural classes taught her the foundations of what she carries out today.
As she transitioned out of high school, she was looking into art schools and gravitated back towards SFX Makeup. She quickly became a “monster maker,” especially since she finished her first full monster bust in a day!
She has also worked with and took a class from the supportive Tom Savini. When she decided to build a life-size race car, he always there encouraging her and is still someone she can depend on. It’s such a great feeling knowing someone in our industry has your back (as Cubers we are lucky to know the feeling well 😉)
“After I graduated from Tom Savini’s, I moved to Atlanta GA where I was instantly hired to be the head of the paint department at Scenario Custom Scenery. It was a great experience however I always felt like I was missing something, I missed working on special effects. So when the pandemic happened it was a blessing in disguise. I moved to NY where I have been freelancing for a number of Scenic shops and working on film sets, featured films, and independent films.”
This was a huge opportunity for artists to be paired with professionals in the field to be their mentors. Only 20 people out of the country received this opportunity. She was paired with Mike Mekash, the SFX artist for American Horror Story. It was a zoom collaboration that taught her a lot about how to make prosthetics. “Through him, I really fell in love with prosthetics and silicone appliances. He taught me new ways of doing things and new techniques. It was an amazing experience.”
She currently has some spooky Holiday (fear) cheer on ArtCube Market that started out as presents for her own friends and family. Now we all can join in the Nightmare Before Christmas style holiday fun. Our very own Eva Radke bought a gingerbread ornament saying, “I love it! It came yesterday. The wrapping was so cute, too. It will always be my 2020 Christmas ornament.” You can add your friends’ or family’s names on the tags for a custom touch. She also has other creepy treats, from slime monsters to frozen heads.
Since joining ArtCube Nation, she has been doing a lot of prop-based freelance work “I love figuring out how to get it done; I love a challenge” She is currently sculpting a custom Chia pet shape that is a classical bust where the classical lady’s eyebrows grow out. “It’s the weirdest thing I’m working on at the moment. It’s so funny I make these monsters, I can sculpt one in a day and it takes me 3 days to do this chia pet.” However, the chia pet is so much more detailed and delicate to sculpt versus her monsters.
So if you have a custom chia pet you didn’t realize until now that you need in your life, reach out to Samantha! You can connect with more artists like her by joining ArtCube Nation, The Social Professional Network for the Art Department.
She found out about ArtCube Nation when she was doing SFX and she was telling the costume designer about her work and her dreams. He mentioned ArtCube Nation and from there the rest was history. She talked about trying Staff Me Up or Mandy, but she shared that “I’ve gotten every single job from ArtCube, especially since COVID.”
Samantha Mileski
My name is Samantha Mileski. I am a Special effects makeup artist based out of NYC. I went to Tom Savini’s Special Effects Program in PA to receive my Associates in FX Makeup and Props. I specialize in realistic prosthetics, sculpting, and fabrication. I have a passion for prop work and monster making. I love creating things never seen before. I have an over creative imagination that never stops popping up new ideas to create. Growing up I was the head makeup artist for a haunted house local to my hometown in CT. And ever since then I fell in love with the field. My inspiration, who really encouraged me was my teacher Shawn Ronzio. He showed me what the field really was about, pushed me to create these huge intimate projects that I never thought I could do, and altogether just made me a better artist. He showed me my love for prop making and gave me hope that I can do anything I want to. I really hope to work for Prosthetic Renaissance in the future when things start opening up again, but until then I am very happy working with all of these amazing film directors to bring their visions to life.
