In this bridge named Peer to Peer, we are assigned to make a mask for our partners based on our knowledge of their personality and life experience through brief interviews, during which my partner, Jiyoung, asked me questions on my past experience, especially of the period when I first came to U.S. Accordingly, grasping the information she obtained from me, she made a mask with regard to my experience of transition between cultures and acceptance of new habits. The mask was created for the diversity of my personality has become as I spent the recent three years in a foreign country, embracing a different culture. The mask helped me better see myself in a different self as if I stood at one end from a timeline of my life and looked back on what I have exposed myself to, which is interesting to see how my life experience was visualized into an art piece. In the mask Jiyoung made, she divided the mask into two main parts. In one part, the white stars and marine blue represented the American culture. As I spent my last three years in American host families, I have been exposed to and affected a lot by American cultures and living habits. The extended “wing” with feathers represents the freedom in American cultures and the numerous opportunities I gained here to help me “fly” to a higher place. The bottom part, which was painted in a type of facial make-up in traditional Chinese operas. Besides, the chains and wire net covering over the part symbolizes the strictness of Chinese culture. The whole experience of having a mask someone made for me made me feel fresh and concerned because as I told all my personal and private memories to Jiyoung when we were not close to and familiar with each other yet. I was concerned about whether she would come up with ideas that didn’t actually represent me and how she would manipulate my information into artworks. Nevertheless, the mask-making project has made us become friends as we kept sharing stories and experience with each other during the process.
-
- Mask By Jiyoung Lee
