Behind the Mask
I came up with the title, as it reflects everyday life. Everyone wears a mask to some degree, whether it is in a professional capacity at work for example when dealing with people. Or in your personal life in how you interact with different people – spouse, family, friends etc.
I was interested in this, as it was something that Michelle Rowley said when we were doing or presentations of core work in FA22 module and it stuck. There was a painting I had done of myself wearing a green coat with fur hood and woolly hat and silly grin, Michelle thought the expression was some kind of mask, as she had not really seen me act like this. In fact at the time of that presentation I was suffering from depression and was off sick from work. So I was not my normal self at all, which the picture did in fact capture my normal self, as it was taken from a photo some time ago.
So then I began to think about the various masks, disguises people wear and how people can hide behind them and try to capture that in my studies, looking from a different angle trying to underpin what I actually mean by the phrase behind the mask.
The definition of “the meaning of a mask” details as follows:
1. A covering worn on the face to conceal one’s identity, as:
· a. A covering, as of cloth, that has openings for the eyes, entirely or partly conceals the face, and is worn especially at a masquerade ball.
· b. A grotesque or comical representation of a face, worn especially to frighten or amuse, as at Halloween.
· c. A facial covering worn for ritual.
· d. A figure of a head worn by actors in Greek and Roman drama to identify a character or trait and to amplify the voice.
2.
· a. A protective covering for the face or head.
· b. A gas mask.
· c. A usually rubber frame forming a watertight seal around the eyes and nose and containing a transparent covering for use in seeing underwater.
· d. A covering for the nose and mouth that is used for inhaling oxygen or an anesthetic.
· e. A covering worn over the nose and mouth, as by a surgeon or dentist, to prevent infection.
3.
· a. A mold of a person’s face, often made after death.
· b. An often grotesque representation of a head and face, used for ornamentation.
4. The face or facial markings of certain animals, such as foxes or dogs.
5. A face having a blank, fixed, or enigmatic expression.
6. Something, often a trait, that disguises or conceals: “If ever I saw misery under a mask, it was on her face” (Erskine Childers).
7. A natural or artificial feature of terrain that conceals and protects military forces or installations.
8.
· a. An opaque border or pattern placed between a source of light and a photosensitive surface to prevent exposure of specified portions of the surface.
· b. The translucent border framing a television picture tube and screen.
9. Computer Science. A pattern of characters, bits, or bytes used to control the elimination or retention of another pattern of characters, bits, or bytes.
10. A cosmetic preparation that is applied to the face and allowed to dry before being removed, used especially for cleansing and tightening the skin.
11. Variant of masque.
12. A person wearing a mask.
http://www.answers.com/topic/mask
accessed on 25th May 2010.
My first painting bearing this title is a mixed media collage. It is heavily textured and using acrylics I have tried to capture when everything is melted away or stripped away all that is left is skin and bone, the skull reflects what is underneath and the humanity.
Behind the Mask 2
This painting is taken from a section of my poly skull I created. It is a close up of an eye. What I wanted to capture was the sinking depth of the eye with the blackness and the rhinestones surrounding the eye was a representation of the beautiful things in life. I wanted the viewer to feel they could lose themselves in the picture. This is a trial version for a much larger rendering of the painting I want to pursue later.
