I call these masks BioMythic. They are visages of human features blended with the shapes, textures and hues of natural habitats -- desert, tide pool, ice fields, meadow lands,... . In a sense they are humans mimicking nature, and by looking the way they do I trust they will offer a vision of us as biomythic beings -- spiritual animals aware of our essential and inextricable bond with the natural world. A second wetlands mask is in the works now.l
All are molded and carved of plaster gauze upon skeletons of wire, and wire mesh. Their surfaces are embedded and embellished with a variety of fibers, stones, beads, braided threads, fragments of manmade objects, and found natural objects. Their interiors are finishd in fabric and braids. They are concieved to be wearable; I feel this is essential to the definition of a mask ... the possibility of putting it on. Seeing through the eye holes of a mask can elicit a shift in
consiousness. I believe masks have been, and continue to be, a means to expand human compassion -- for all
life forms - all flora and fauna, each other, our planet.
