Mask Project
This week my project was to make a mask based on the reading from the textbook, which focused on multiple cultures and the masks that they make, usually for religious purposes. Based on the reading, I was inspired to make a kachina mask, which is the name that the Pueblo Native American cultures give to numerous supernatural beings. According to Wikipedia, "Kachinas are spirits or personifications of things in the real world. These spirits are believed to visit the Hopi villages during the first half of the year. A kachina can represent anything in the natural world or cosmos, from a revered ancestor to an element, a location, a quality, a natural phenomenon, or a concept." With that in mind, I wanted to try to create a mask representing a natural phenomenon/concept of "the balance between fire and water," which I could not find as being a preexisting Kachina. My main goal was to create a new mask of a Kachina that had not previously been represented, so as not to diminish or devalue the current Kachina pantheon. Above all, I wanted to respectfully add to the Kachina pantheon in a way that would be unique.
Before I could create my mask, however, I needed to find inspiration. Here are the three images I found that serve as inspiration for my mask:
I chose these images because I knew I wanted to create a round mask and I was wondering what existing round Kachina masks looked like. What was immediately noticeable to me was the earth tones, the bilateral symmetry, and the repeating patterns on the masks. The strong horizontal lines in the first two masks make it look like the mask is made up of a mask wearer and their headdress, complete with illustrated feathers. The geometric forms of semicircles on the first two masks and the circles of the last mask echo the round mask shape itself. Finally, the texture of the feathers in all three masks added a three-dimensional element and sense of completeness to the stylized illustration of the masks.
After being inspired, I sketched and created my own mask. Here are my sketches and finished mask images:
I applied the geometric forms that I was inspired by in my mask by making the eyes and mouth rectangular, while making every other form a circle or semicircle. I created contrast in the use of color by using a warm color to symbolize fire and a cool color to symbolize water. The wide rays emanating from the top of the mask are short, which are balanced by the long rays on the bottom, which are narrow. The top of the mask is a warm orange and is balanced by the cool blue on the bottom of the mask, while the nose is the inverse of both colors. The strong horizontal lines that I was inspired by are incorporated in the mask by how they bisect the face horizontally, and are echoed by the horizontal eyes and mouth. Lines of alternating colors also radiate outward from the center in every direction to contrast the perpendicular angles of the eyes and the mouth.
I think that my mask is successful in achieving a balance of contrasts, shown by the contrast of colors, the visual weight of the top rays compared to the bottom rays, and the angles of the lines of the rays compared to the lines of the eyes and mouth. I wish that I had incorporated feathers and more ornate patterns in the mask—something that I realized only while analyzing it for this blog post. I would also like to see this mask created with more visual weight, so maybe it could be created again out of half of a gourd or some other large semicircular object. Overall, I really enjoyed creating the mask and I am now inspired to make it better and more substantial. Attempting to make a mask myself makes me respect the artistry that went into the creation of the masks from the reading, as well as the three inspirational masks that I chose.
Until next time!
Before I could create my mask, however, I needed to find inspiration. Here are the three images I found that serve as inspiration for my mask:
I chose these images because I knew I wanted to create a round mask and I was wondering what existing round Kachina masks looked like. What was immediately noticeable to me was the earth tones, the bilateral symmetry, and the repeating patterns on the masks. The strong horizontal lines in the first two masks make it look like the mask is made up of a mask wearer and their headdress, complete with illustrated feathers. The geometric forms of semicircles on the first two masks and the circles of the last mask echo the round mask shape itself. Finally, the texture of the feathers in all three masks added a three-dimensional element and sense of completeness to the stylized illustration of the masks.
After being inspired, I sketched and created my own mask. Here are my sketches and finished mask images:
I applied the geometric forms that I was inspired by in my mask by making the eyes and mouth rectangular, while making every other form a circle or semicircle. I created contrast in the use of color by using a warm color to symbolize fire and a cool color to symbolize water. The wide rays emanating from the top of the mask are short, which are balanced by the long rays on the bottom, which are narrow. The top of the mask is a warm orange and is balanced by the cool blue on the bottom of the mask, while the nose is the inverse of both colors. The strong horizontal lines that I was inspired by are incorporated in the mask by how they bisect the face horizontally, and are echoed by the horizontal eyes and mouth. Lines of alternating colors also radiate outward from the center in every direction to contrast the perpendicular angles of the eyes and the mouth.
I think that my mask is successful in achieving a balance of contrasts, shown by the contrast of colors, the visual weight of the top rays compared to the bottom rays, and the angles of the lines of the rays compared to the lines of the eyes and mouth. I wish that I had incorporated feathers and more ornate patterns in the mask—something that I realized only while analyzing it for this blog post. I would also like to see this mask created with more visual weight, so maybe it could be created again out of half of a gourd or some other large semicircular object. Overall, I really enjoyed creating the mask and I am now inspired to make it better and more substantial. Attempting to make a mask myself makes me respect the artistry that went into the creation of the masks from the reading, as well as the three inspirational masks that I chose.
Until next time!
References
Getlein, M.
(2016). Living with art (Eleventh edition). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill
Education.
Wikipedia (2019).
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kachina
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