Cultural Masks

For the second project, we had to create a mask based on a certain culture either relevant now or in history. Personally, I decided to take note and do research from the tribes of the Northwest United States like Oregon and Washington, as long as more research from tribes in Alaska. Both of these relatively close regions honored the same topic — animals, more specifically spiritually. They honored any animal they kill via masks and other methods. Knowing this, I created a mask with the design of a fish. I did this by creating a face via paper and tape where I got the outline for my mask and then with another piece of clay carve out a design of a fish where I was able to attach to the main mask. One thing I did was keeping the design simple, not going into detail with the head of the fish or any of the fins. I did this because keeping it simple means there is more room for error and overall I just like the idea of simplistic work as I did with the project before with the tile as well. I used two different glazes — green, representing the fish, and blue for the background for the water. The name of the glazes were SM-27 (Teal) for the green and SM-20 (Light Blue) for the blue.

Overall, the project didn't necessarily come out as I wanted to if I am being honest. My favorite part is the outline and overall shape of the fish, but that's about it. I initially that I would be able to create just the fish for the mask and not put that design on top of another mask, causing it to look odd. I also am upset at myself for putting actual facial features on the fish making it look simply ugly. If I were to do this project again I definitely would change a couple of different things. I wouldn't include the facial features and probably down-size the fish so it better fits on the other mask so it doesn't look as disproportionate.