Masks In this series I am exploring the power and effect of handmade, static masks in both abstract and commonplace settings. Interestingly, this new work is a deviation from my earlier mask pieces that I created during my 6 month stay in Japan in 1991 where I was quite inspired by Japanese Noh masks. I find it so interesting that I’ve come back to masks as a subject after almost a 30 year hiatus, but such is the artistic process. Sometimes themes require significant time to gestate and that’s what I find so intriguing about creation – just when you think you’ve explored all sides, a new personal discovery is made. Masks are a form of disguise, ritual, entertainment, and even protection, and I wanted to expand my exploration by sculpting oversized masks out of clay and bringing them to life using glass eyes, paint, and human hands, all in a variety of settings. Ironically, in these staged scenes, my masks are used as a form of expressed emotion rather then concealed disguise. Further, depending on how the variables work together, I am often surprised how each mask takes on its own personality, its own story. Although the masks are not sculpted realistically, they appear to breath and live, whether a person is posing behind them or not.
© Melissa Meier | Artist Biography, Artworks & Gallery | www.melissameierart.com
