Mask Project: The Snake

 

Growing up in in Florida as a young girl, park adventures or a walk near the mangroves always meant running into a reptile. From a young age, I created a fear of reptiles due to the countless encounters I had with snakes, specifically. The one time I came the closest to one was while I was bathing in the pool. It came swimming along and lightly swayed its body along the width of my stomach. When I looked down I was very frightened. I could see its face quite clearly and instantly my mind blurred into an image of one of those mean looking snakes I had always seen in videos and images on TV. The mask I created is the face of a snake. The textures I used such as crumbled paper and small scales were an attempt to create the texture of skin in such reptiles. I used the craft of origami to create the features of the face such as the fangs and the tongue. Overall I tried to make my mask a representation and recreation of my fear of snakes, and of that image that my mind created that day at the pool.