Gallery:
Masks

Masks are among the most universal of art forms.

There are few cultures, ancient or modern, primitive or sophisticated, in which masks have not been used. Masks are as extraordinarily varied in appearance as they are in function or meaning.

Masks symbolize what they are designed to depict: animals, heroes, characters in a drama, wind, rain, supernatural beings, spirits of good and evil, ancestors, gods, extraterrestrials, spirits of nature, etc. They have been used for satire and buffoonery, for terrorizing others, to cause laughter or fear, to cure disease, and to impersonate people or supernatural beings.

The essential characteristic of hiding and revealing different personalities (or moods) is common to all masks.

As a form of disguise, the mask is worn over the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features, to establish another being.

I've always been fascinated by what eventually takes place between the ears while wearing a mask.

It seems I often become psychologically attached to the character I am outwardly creating. I lose my own identity and become a type of conscience android. An entity without my own will. I become subservient to that of the personage and aura of the mask itself.