A different kind of cover girl: Jessica Chastain plays muse to visual artists in the new issue of W magazine

She has been referred to as the 'ultimate muse'.
And Jessica Chastain, in her many covers for the January issue of W magazine, is proving just that.
The Help actress has been re-imagined by visual artists George Condo, Rineke Dijkstra, Chantal Joffe and Mickalene Thomas for the magazine's forthcoming Art Meets Fashion edition.

A work of art: Jessica Chastain becomes a three-dimensional palette for artist Geoge Condo in the January 2013 issue of W magazine

Staring into the camera a blank canvas, her red hair is parted down the middle, tousled and draped over bare shoulder.
The image, taken by Dutch art photographer Rineke Dijkstra also lays bare her insecurities.

 

Jessica sat with Editor-at-Large Lynn Hirschberg to discuss the work, and several others created for W's inaugural 2013 issue.
'That photo was probably closest to just being me,' she told Ms Hirschberg, laughing. 'And so, of course, I felt the most naked.'

Softness and strength: Afraid to fly, Chantal Joffe Skyped Jessica from her London studio, while the actress posed in her New York City hotel room

Transformation: Jessica blends into another one of Condo's works

American artist Geoge Condo transformed the actress into a three-dimensional palette for two of his works. Her natural hair colour saturated by a frizzy red wig, she channeled Diana Ross playing Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. 
'As a little girl, I wanted to be Diana Ross in that movie. And when I put on the red Afro wig, I finally felt like her,' she said.
But it's the ritual of transforming into character, as much as playing the part, that drives the actress.
'I love wigs, I love costumes, I love anything that will get me into the character,' she explained.

   

A blank canvas: Jessica stares into the camera in an image taken by Dutch art photographer Rineke Dijkstra

'I love the feeling of giving myself over to another strong point of view. It’s the best kind of trust - the belief that an artist will take care of me while creating something unique.'
Afraid of flying, British painter Chantal Joffe Skyped the star from her studio in London. Jessica posed in her hotel room in New York.
Looking over her shoulder, and in another painting, sitting at the edge of a bed, her softness is captured in the strength of Joffe's trademark style.
Multimedia artist Mickalene Thomas placed Jessica on sets she created at the Brooklyn Museum for her recent retrospective.

Not your usual cover girl: Jessica looks over her shoulder in another image painted by Joffe

   

Retro: Multimedia artist Mickalene Thomas placed the actress on sets she created at the Brooklyn Museum for her recent retrospective

Jessica also opened up about working with famously reclusive director Terrence Malick.  The pair worked together on his fantasy drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
The actress recalled how she escaped to a secluded Kansas farm to examine Lauren Bacall's early performances, attended a meditation retreat in Arizona and studied the expressions of Madonna paintings to ready herself for the role of Pitt's wife in the film.
'I wanted to slow down the mad monkey of the mind in order to cultivate a kind of inner calm that would translate to the film. I knew I had to give myself over to the movie and to Terry. That kind of immersion is so wonderful - it’s why I love working with artists,' she said.
She will soon have the chance to do that again, if her diverse selection of films set for release next year are any indication.

Two-faced: The actress was painted over entirely for another of Condo's images

In January, Zero Dark Thirty will hit cinemas. The film chronicles the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Horror film Mama will be released in the same month.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers; Ned Benson's stories of a new York couple's relationship as told by the husband and wife, are also scheduled for 2013 release.
It seems, after playing the victim for so long, as a guest star on television shows and waiting for the audition that could turn around her career as did the Tree of Life, she has finally got her wish to be a blank canvas for some of the most revered and celebrated storytellers in cinema.
'I never want to get bored,' she said.

Portrait of an artist: Dijkstra's photograph also appears on one of several covers for the magazine's inaugural 2013 issue