Opera-matic, a collaborative arts group in Chicago, contacted me this last spring to make a mask for The Moon on the Lagoon, The community performance featured lullabies and the faces people find in the moon. What a cool idea!
I was sent this image by a group in Chicago commissioning an owl mask.
Part of designing the mask is figuring how it will align with and/or cover the performer’s face. The producers knew they wanted the mouth of the performer available, so I approached it much like a three-quarter character mask.
Inspiration and discovery continue throughout the process of making. Those moments are my favorite in my process. These inspirations can manifest in an accident, through a coincidence of timing, etc.
The first version of this mask was made for the Grand Guignolers company in Los Angeles. It was to be human in scale, which directed my choice about how to create visibility for the actor.
Coy. So coy. Just a like a mantis.Though difficult to see here, the exoskeleton is textured with small brushstrokes to add life to the painting under stage lights.
This amazing insect was so inspiring, it started appearing in other projects, like the shadow puppet show bugged, created with Rollin Carlson.
An exploratory image from the making of “bugged”—like so many images, it didn’t make it into the show.
Working in shadow encourages an essentialization of form. It’s interesting to look back and see which elements carry on and evolve through the various iterations. After this further exploration of this form through puppetry, I realized wasn’t quite satisfied with the silhouette. I jumped at the chance to improve it with my next commission for the insect.
Round 2: blocking in a sculpture for a new version.Refining the sculptureI had to cut off part of the clay mandibles to accomplish the papier-mache. They were made separately and joined once the cast had been pulled from the clay.This praying mantis has more texture on the eyes than the exoskeleton. It also has a special paint on the eyes to create a feeling of iridescence.
I refined the eye hole to be even more incorporated in the geometry of the sculpture. The next time I had the opportunity to work on this mask, I played around a little with color. Research images guided my thoughts.
A variation from the previous sculpture. Research provided additional ideas fro coloring. The eyes were further refined and smoothed with paper clay.For the eyes on this version, I began with a sponge technique to break up the flatness of the red. On top of that, I used a stencil technique to suggest the segmentation of the eyes.
I’ve learned great things each time about this he next time I work on this mask, I want to explore greater width. Here are all the versions so far:
Side by sideIn this silhouette, the mask is almost three times as wide as the human head!