Masks a Beautiful Form of Sculpture

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Masks a Beautiful Form of Sculpture

• In this presentation you will see masks from
  Bali, Africa, Alaska, Mexico and Contemporary
  examples

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Mask Making
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Masks -many levels to appreciate them on

• Artistry
• Symbolism
• Religious significance
• History
• Decoration
• used as costumes, for dances, plays, dramas

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The Gold Mask of Tutankhamun

• This mask of solid gold, beaten and burnished,
  was placed over the head and shoulders of
  Tutankhamuns mummy, outside the linen bandages
  in which the whole body was wrapped.

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Mexican masks

• Europeans, with their fair skins, facial hair and
  blue or green eyes, were a source of surprise
  and fascination for Mexican Indians.
• They also became a source of inspiration for mask
  makers.
• The top row are from the State of Guerrero
• The bottom row, with glass eyes are from Chiapas
  (left) and Tlaxcala (right)

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More Mexican Masks

• This is a wooden mask in the likeness of a plumed
  Aztec Warrior from the State of Guerrero
• Height 13 3/4 (35cm)

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Decorative Masks

• Wooden masks, carved and painted with industrial
  gloss paints by Fidel Navarro, who also provides
  fellow-villages in Acapetlahuaya, Guerrero, with
  figures of saints.
• both masks are decorative. The Devil, with real
  horns and teeth and Christ, with a movable jaw
  the thorns are painted cocktail sticks.

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Devil mask worn during Celebrations

• Devil mask worn during celebrations in
  Teloloapan, Guerrero,
• Carved and painted with industrial gloss paints
  by Fidel de la Puente
• It features writhing serpents
• Real horns and sheeps wool have been used the
  animal hide hangs down the wearers back

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Mexican Tiger Masks

• Many festivals are still dominated by dances,
  which vary according to region. Since the
  Conquest the fusion of Spanish and native
  traditions has created a range of dances and
  masks that few countries can equal.
• Although wood is the material most often used for
  masks, they are also made from leather, clay,
  paper, cloth, wire mesh, gourds and wax.
• One of the most widespread dance-cycles in Mexico
  centers on the tiger.

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Mask for the Dance of the Los Negros

• Lacquered wooden mask, decorated with ribbons for
  the dance o Los Negros, from Michoacan
• The animal hide hangs down the dancers back
• Height of mask7 1/2 (19cm)

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Feathered African Mask

• Fang people
• Gabon, 20th century
• Wood, feathers, and kaolin
• 11 inches (28cm) wide
• Musee des Arts Africains et Oceaniens, Paris

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Ivory Hip Mask

• Benin, south-western Nigeria, c.16th century AD
• Ivory
• 9 7/8 inches (25cm) high
• Museum of Mankind, London

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African Mask

• Shene Malula Mask
• Central Congo
• Wood
• Height 9 in. (23 cm.)
• This bakuba mask of the Babende society is an
  initiation mask for a society formed by the young
  men to carry out the orders of the chief. The
  band of bright beads closing the mouth and
  running down from the nose probably symbolizes an
  oath of secrecy.

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African Mask

• Bateke Mask
• Congo
• Wood
• Height 13 3/4 (35cm)
• It is remarkable how the semi-circles
  representing the lower lids of the eyes are
  slightly off-set so that the top of the face and
  the eyes themselves appear to move forwards.

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Examples of masks

• Different materials produce different effects

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The Living Masks of Bali

• Mask performances are important rituals on the
  Indonesian island of Bali
• A mask in Bali is used to create more than the
  character in a drama
• Artists create a broad range of sculptural forms,
  although most are carved from wood. They are
  embellished with a variety of textural materials
  such as boars teeth, horsehair, jewels, gold
  leaf, Chinese coins, buffalo hide rabbit pelts
  and mirrors.

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The Art of Mask Carving in Bali

• The mask carver-the undagi tapel is a specialized
  craftsman who has likely come to his calling
  through heredity.
• Only a few make sacred Barong and Rangda masks,
  and a few create performance masks
• The majority produce works for tourists.

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Sacred Masks

• The priest of Singapadu is involved in the
  entire process of making a mask.
• Here he purifies the wood and asks for a blessing
  for success before the carving begins.
• Sacred masks created in a consecrated manner and
  are handled only by temple priests and are kept
  in sacred places when not in use.

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Spirit of the Tree

• A tree that produces a knot is considered
  pregnant.
• A priest asks the spirit of the tree for
  permission to remove the knot in a religious
  ceremony before it is used to make a mask.
• Certain trees contain powerful spirits, such as
  this one insingapadu, which is associated with
  the deaths of 2 priests from mysterious causes
  within a week after they removed one of the knots.

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Artist Adding Details

• Wayan Tangguh adds facial hair, usually made of
  goat hide, with glue and pegs
• A rubber strap holds the mask on the wearers head

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Rangda Mask

• Because the Rangda mask is very important, it is
  carved only by consecrated individuals in a
  prescribed manner.
• Some villages have two Rangda masks, one kept in
  the temple of the dead and the other in the
  village temple
• Both are carved from the living kepuh-rangdu or
  pule tree
• Many facsimiles of Rangda exist for sale in Bali,
  which is not sacrilegious.

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Rangda

• This mask represents the angry widow, a fierce,
  bloodthirsty cannibal who delights in causing
  terror and strife
• An expert in black magic and a symbol of fear,
  she is the Queen of Witches who rules over other
  practitioners.
• Her movements in the drama are rough and crude
  with loud rasping voice, wild erratic gestures
  and leaping gait.
• Rangda leaps as she dances, and the entrails of
  her victims fly about her neck in abandon.
• Her face is framed by a blanket of horsehair

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Japanese Masks for Noh Plays

• On the left a mask of an old women, 16th-17th
  Century, unsigned made of wood
• On the right a mask of a young women,
  18thCentury, signed Hojo Taishi Kenjo
• Both are from the British Museum in London

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Masks from Alaskan Tribes

• You can read about these masks on the following
  website
• http//www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Yupick/