MIchael DeMeng Workshop
Mask Maker, Mask Maker, Make Me a Mask
Workshop length: Two Day
All levels
Description:
I collect masks. I’m not sure what it is but ever since I was a kid I have always been intrigued by the idea of transforming ones identity. That is why I love masks. Perhaps it’s a superhero thing, but mask making is one of the oldest cultural traditions in the world, in fact the earliest example being from the Stone Age. The hunter would were animal masks to disguise themselves and stalk prey. They transformed themselves into the animals they were hunting. In essence this is what a mask does, it changes the wearer into something else. Have you ever noticed when you wear a mask you act a little differently, that you temporarily lose yourself and become whatever the mask represents?
In this class we are going to play with this concept and using various found objects or existing masks, we are going to transform them into strange and unusual facial disguises. This is a two day class. This gives you the opportunity to make plaster forms from your own face if you are so inclined. It also allows ample drying time for some of the constructions before they are transformed with paint and texture.
Making masks is different than merely wearing them; it can be a process for artists to reveal what is veiled inside one’s soul. It is a strange art form that keeps secrets but also simultaneously unearths hidden worlds. Oh, the irony.