Challenge 5: Behind the Mask

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.” ~Oscar Wilde



Last night was Halloween in America.  A night when kids of all ages put on costumes and walk around the neighborhood after dark.  You may open your door to find a 3 foot tall Barack Obama standing next to a fairy princess and a giant fried egg with legs, without the least bit of surprise.  On Halloween, you can be anyone or anything you want.  Ghosts and vampires don’t scare you; just give them some candy and then they’ll move onto the next house.

As long as human beings have lived together, we have worn masks.  They allow us to step outside our ordinary life, tell a story, be the person we wish we could be.  They can also be used to deceive, manipulate or frighten our fellow man.  Ceremonial masks and theater make up are put on over the face, and are usually easy to recognize.  Others are more subtle; we might mask our true feelings when a friend asks for an opinion, or put on “a brave face” when we’re scared.  We may write provocative comments on line using a false name.  But like a plastic Batman face with eye holes cut out, wearing a mask can also obscure or limit our own vision of the world. 

This month’s Challenge: What kind of masks do you wear in your life?  Do they hide you or allow you to be your true self?
Challenge 5:
Orientation: Portrait (18"w x 24"h)
Gallery opens December 26, 2012

Tal ( 탈 : Korean Mask)

by Misik Kim

Korean masks have a long tradition with use in a variety of contexts.

   They were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially,

   for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to

            drive away evil spirits; to remember

   the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts,

            particularly in ritual  dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature   masks for tourist souvenirs, or on cell-phones

            where they hang as good-luck talismans.  

There are various kinds of Korean masks and performances

talchum is just one of dozens of styles of Korean masks.

   And It could be characterized as a Korean dance performed while wearing a mask,

   miming, speaking and even sometimes singing.

  Many different regions have their own unique forms of the art; in fact, some styles

   belong to a single small village.

   The masks range from fairly realistic to outlandish and monstrous. Some are large,

   exaggerated circles. Others are oval, or even triangular, with long and pointed chins.

Many of the finest masks are carved from alder wood, The masks are attached to a hood of black cloth, which serves to hold the mask in place, and also resembles hair.

I am so interested in Korean traditional masks for a long time.

 I am trying to express them in my work.

 

Unmasked

When I started my professional career in the 1980s, my sister gave me an article from Time Magazine entitled "Fearing the Mask May Fall". It was about perfectionists in the workplace and their fear of being discovered for who they are: human and fallible.  As I recall, the article intimated the need to wear the mask was as essential to the person's sense of self as it was to maintaining others' perceptions of their performance. Authenticity was the solution: acknowledgement and acceptance of our own limitations, not as shocking imperfections, but rather as common and acceptable reflections of our humanity.

I had an experience that later solidified this concept. I was a low-level employee summoned to give a presentation to the board of a Mexican consortium. The one American executive didn't speak Spanish and the board was tired of conducting all business in English. I was the only person in the American organization who spoke Spanish so I was chosen to give a presentation and ameliorate the situation. Talk about intimidating!

The board members were all bilingual, having been educated at Harvard, Stanford and MIT. They were also leaders of extremely successful Mexican companies; many of them were billionaires. I was so far out of my league it was frightening, but I put on my best face and tried to act as if I belonged there. Mid-way through my presentation I stumbled trying to pronounce a word. I started the sentence again and stumbled again. Two more nervous, unsuccessful attempts to pronounce the word and the stillness in the room was deafening. Stubborn me, rather than skip it, I chose to pronounce the word syllable by syllable: man-te-ni-mi-en-to! 

I was shocked when they broke out in applause! It took me a moment to realize that my mistake, my struggle, had endeared me to the audience. Every one of those board members had been in a similar situation, giving a speech in their non-native tongue and having stumbled on a word. My mask had fallen, my authentic, fallible self had been revealed, and the result was a stronger bond with the people around me!

I had the profound realization that our masks don't protect us, they isolate us. From that point on I have endeavored to unify my internal self and my external projection. Kate's challenge is a wonderful opportunity for reflection and analysis. Have I been successful at integrating my true self and its expression? How would I visually depict this ongoing struggle?

 

Once again, I am stretched intellectually and artistically by this group. Thank you all; I can't wait until the gallery reveal!

The Masks We Wear

This month’s Challenge: What kind of masks do you wear in your life?  Do they hide you or allow you to be your true self?

Oooh, Kate ... good one! 

Like my fellow colleagues involved in this challenge, it has caused me to give considerable thought to the masks I wear.  

It always elicits guffaws of disbelief in everyone but my immediate family when I reveal that I am an introvert.  I'm not off the charts (if you haven't done the Myers-Briggs personality type inventory, it is a fascinating and revealing experience - there are lots available online for free), but I test decidedly on the Introvert side.  Why does no one guess this? Because I wear the mask of an extrovert.  Sometimes I feel like the character played by Roy Scheider in the film All That Jazz when he looks at his reflection in the mirror each morning and intones, "Show time!"  When I have to engage in public speaking, that is almost literally what I do while donning my Extrovert Mask.  To be clear, here, I don't engage in the use of cigarettes, dexedrine, Alka Seltzer and Visine that the protagonist in the film does! But I do have a Public Persona, and that is the face I show to the world.

So, miracle of miracles, this was the easiest and quickest challenge yet.  It was done before the end of November, and was yet another opportunity to do some experimental work - which is why this group is so important to me.  It is like a license to deviate from my normal art routine and try things I ordinarily would not take time from my hectic schedule to play with.  Can't wait for the Big Reveal!

The Christmas Letter Mask

The Perfect Family (Cast from "Leave it to Beaver")

When I was growing up, my father was a minister in the United Church of Christ. Each Christmas brought 100's of Christmas cards and letters from not only current parishioners, but from many in the half dozen congregations he served in his career.  It was always humbling to read through the happy accomplishment of the "Smith" family and try to imagine how they had somehow escaped the mundane and sometimes challenging life that was our own.

When I was going through my parents' Christmas ornaments, I found copies of probably a dozen Christmas letters my parents had composed and sent to those same 100's of friends, recounting the events and accomplishments of our family during the previous year.  Which gave me pause......I know there were many, well, maybe not many, but a number of years when I am sure it was a challenge to find shining examples of things that each of us children had done.  And yet, reading through them, we sounded pretty okay.

I've written Christmas letters myself, not so much recently, but in the past.  And I know that I have picked words carefully, shared the highlights and worn that mask of the perfect family.

The Pretty Okay Family (The Wolves, circa 1965)

So, in thinking about masks, I'm reconsidering what this Christmas Letter Mask is all about.  I used to think that the letters were simply the collective brags and boasts of the year when I read the "Smiths" letters.  But from my personal perspective, my letters, and I suspect my parents', were wearing a mask of privacy, to protect themselves, to protect those they loved.  The things that were intimate and sometimes painful, that were too personal to share, were just left out leaving a pretty skewed vision of our lives. It's interesting how the mask looks so different from the other side!

This challenge has been one of the most difficult for me to talk about.  I initially was completely blank on what to do.  What masks do I wear, what masks have I worn?  Who sees the mask?  Is it me, or someone else?  Do I put masks on other people.....ooh, that's a good one.....do others put masks on me?  So many ways to go.....and like Diane's comment, which are appropriate to disclose here on a blog rather than on a therapist's couch?

Look Behind the Mask

This challenge is one I've been thorough before.
During a big life crisis several years ago, I felt increasingly trapped and frantic, and worked out some emotions in a series of mask pieces.
The piece I'm posting here, Look Behind the Mask, is about needing to put on a calm face even though there is turmoil inside.
I was first learning about printing on fabric, those are my eyes looking out and my hands too. I cut the mask in half and sewed it back together with big stitches to emphasize the decisions I was being forced to make.
It's been show once, but is really too personal (read *embarrassing*) to put out there any further.

Happily, the problems worked themselves out in a constructive way- at this time, I really threw myself into quilting full time and have had a wonderful career as a result.

Challenge 5: Behind the Mask

From: Lin Hsin-Chen

I received the fifth challenge when I was in Houston. I was extremely excited to meet Ms. Martha Wolfe, Ms. Diane Wright, Ms. Betty Busby, and Ms. Lisa-Marie Sanders from Viewpoints 9 personally. We gathered together and shared our ideas about sentiments towards creation. That was a rare moment for us.

I enjoyed the topic-Behind the Mask, which allows me to do what I want into a work.

There were mostly cloudy days in November in San Francisco when I was there. I looked at the Golden Gate Bridge from a distance. It was hard to see a full view of that bridge. I believe it was not its intention to hide the beauty. But the most amazing enchantment was the half-seen; the indistinct look was very charming that attracts people eagerly to see it clearer. I believe the bridge looks different in cloudy days, rainy days, and sunny days.

Not only people put on a mask easily, but objects and events will do the same in different situation to deal with everything. This is what I thought while walking on the bridge.

I then walked down the bridge and saw the beautiful roses that were not affected by the weather. They did not hide themselves to face the world positively. Or was it the beautiful roses had their own magic mask to cover themselves?

Behind the Mask Tradition

I think Kate's challenge is going to be a more difficult assignment for me.  First, I've been exploring other people's use of masks to establish a foundation.  I think I'll postpone looking at my own personal use of masks until I'm a bit better grounded in masks in general.

Shinja (True Snake) horrific and powerful serpent-woman

I started with Noh to which I was introduced as a teenager living in Japan.  In Noh, the classical Japanese theater, the many characters are usually masked, with men playing both the male and female roles.

I didn't 'get' it then apparently, because as I research it now, there's much that is dazzling.  Well, it would have been dazzling to a teen, had that teen been paying better attention:  Who knew that Shinja (above) was a WOMAN!  Yikes, that put a whole different spin on the performances I remember.

I understood that Ko-omote was a beautiful young woman.  

Ko-omote ('Cute' young woman)

e

Okina in full costume: Dance begins with recitation of a poem celebrating erotic love

I'm sure I rolled my eyes when someone informed me that the poem and dance by the Okina character was erotic.

Decades later, I became interested in Australian Aboriginal art where body painting and decoration has deep spiritual significance.

Contemporary Aboriginal woman in ceremony

Usually the designs, painted with ground ochres and pipeclay and, sometimes accentuated with feathers, are motifs used to denote social position and relationships to family, totem, ancestor and land.  The individual can become totally transformed in the process and actually 'become' their ancestor spirit.

Tiwi man ready for ceremony

In both Aboriginal and Noh masking forms, the traditions are rather rigidly codified and regulated by the institutions, with innovation being disapproved of.

After this research, I might be ready to proceed to 'masks' as they apply to me on a more personal, and complicated, level.  Thanks, Kate...I think.