Five of My Favorite Works That Explore Masks
It’s 1:45 am and I’m awake again from insomnia. So I decided to just go with the flow and get up to do some explorations. Recently I became very attracted to masks. Perhaps due to the coronavirus break which put such a commodity people don’t normally pay too much attention to the very center of the focus. There’s a widespread shortage of this item worldwide. And I got to ponder what’s the relationship between masks and humans, diseases and masks and also between humans and masks. In this case, people see mask as a protective shield between viruses and their healthy bodies. They want to prevent contact with the viruses.
Then I started some research in terms of mask explorations and below are some masks that I find particularly interesting.
The first mask series I find interesting is by Studio Bertjan Pot. These were in fact beautiful failures from material exploration. The artists wanted to make some carpet, but instead, they curled up and would not look good as carpet. Artist hence turned them into masks.
Another artist’s work originated from she started using found materials to make masks for going clubbing. Damselfrau uses different materials and create these very intricate masks. I love that she thinks each mask has its own identity and each has its own personality associated.
I also absolutely love the collaborative piece Saul Steinberg and Inge Morath created. They painted a series of faces on brown bags and ask people to wear and take portraits of them. They make me feel surreal and also there’s a sense of humor embedded in this series of work.
Neri Oxman’s work always inspires me. Her series of five death masks explores the transition between life and death. The material and texture look absolutely stunning and they just draw me in.
The last series of works not only involves creating masks that are awestriking but also reinvent the whole environment. I love the bold and surrealistic 3D creations by Kota Kamaji.
