In the mask making assignment, we need to make a mask for our partner according to her personality.
My partner is Hermione. I started to know Hermione in the interview assignment. She has conflicting thoughts like she wants to be famous, be the focus so that she will be able to show people her interesting ideas. But when I asking about what ability she wants when she wakes up the next morning, Hermione said she wanted to be invisible. She wants to do someone unusual in front of people and have a nice, deep observation of them. Hermione is not a follower, she has her unique thoughts and feelings about what should her life be like.
I actually kind of forgot about the questions Hermione asked and how I answered them. But I was sure that she found something about me that she wanted to combine with the mask design.
The mask Hermione created is aiming at pointing out that I am trapped by the score. Hermione said she found I care a lot about scores and hope to do the best in every assignment, which I think is exactly who I am. The mask is designed to have curvy line s just like the feet of an octopus, meaning scores occupied my attention and limited me.
mask made by Hermione
model: Delores
mask made by Hermione
The curvy lines are the top part of the whole mask, which is tripped with small stones, seashells, and beads. The lower part of the mask is a bundle of hay. According to Hermione, the hay functions as adding the sense of nature to the mask, having no other meanings.
However, I have a different understanding of the mask before Hermione explained it to me. I think the top curvy part with the colorful drippings on it looks like a swirl, and it means confusion. Different emotions mix and form anxiety. The whole piece reminded me of a small, dark, unknown village near a dirty sea beach. I could feel some darkness form the mask.
Having a mask made for me made me feel both interesting and weird. I felt interesting because I knew my partner designed and made the mask according to my personality or something deep inside me, not my appearance. So I was curious about what did my partner found inside me. What could be something I showed to her but I was unconscious about it. It is interesting to know myself through others, especially through an interesting art piece.
I felt weird because it was not very comfortable to reveal myself to other people when we were not familiar. In this assignment, people all wanted to make different, unusual masks, so they sought something unusual from their partners, which are private and they don’t show them in front of the public. However, having a mask made for me is cool. The mask is so precious when you know the creator spent a lot of time and money on it and kept improving it to make it better. The mask is also a connection between partners. It is so interesting to learn and express human being through this artwork, which is not limited to appearances like paintings. I think Hermione did a great job and a big thank for her.
