Meiko, will you please sit still! This makeup won’t apply itself. And, your hair… I give up! The stylist exhaled deeply, clattered the hairbrush onto the side table and marched across the room to where some of the other models were gathered. Meiko sat up then back in the hard seat looking in the mirror. Although her skin was naturally fair, the porcelain-white foundation rendered her almost unrecognisable. The white paint traced her hair line and reached down her neck, ending in rough, unfinished strokes. Her eyes were lined thickly black making her amber eyes seeming to protrude from her oval face. Meiko wrinkled her nose at the effect.

She reached into her shoulder bag checking her cell-phone for any missed calls. This had already taken too long. Ren had promised that the job would be quick; that she would be done before the end of the school day. Yeah, right. Meiko had called the school and made apologetic arrangements for her daughter to be picked up by one of the other mothers. The school teacher said that she understood, but Meiko caught disapproval in her tone.

What was she doing?! No amount of money was worth this. Meiko slipped on red lacquer shoes and took the wooden steps down to the pebble beach. She pretended not to hear Ren’s shouts as she walked away from the house, and the job, the stones grinding with each step…

Inspired by Gui Bourdin’s 1974 short film, Geishas, which is being shown as part of Tate Liverpool’s Glam! exhibition