Reoccurring themes: Masks

              I find that I make a lot of masks. As Halloween is just around the corner, it seemed like a good idea to delve into the archives and talk about them. I like to make masks because they are relatively a simple form with infinite variation possible. A mask is traditionally something of a ceremonial or magical item. Masks have power. Maskwork may  be one of the oldest  formalized performance techniques and can get incredibly sophisticated.  The dichotomy of masks fascinates me. They can be used to as a disguise to conceal the wearer's identity (in fact in Venice  people became so enamored with the anonymity masks worked their way out of the ballroom and into everyday fashion. I read somewhere that wearing a mask pin on your lapel was a sign you wished to be left alone), or reveal it (this gets into a whole intriguing area of psychology. Masks can be used as a catalyst to tap into areas of our  subconscious that we may not have easy access to). Mask performance can be incredibly liberating and incredibly sophisticated. I have probably made more masks than any other one type of object. In India for one performance i personally shaped fifty of paper mache. i don't know how many have survived and have next to no documentation of them. I was surprised when I was putting this post together how few pictures I actually had in general. Some of them aren't the greatest photos. I think instead of offering my usual commentary on each piece, I'll just let you browse the collection on your own. Enjoy!