Abbey Teller

Last week in class, I started exploring the concept of the mask, but mostly ended up focusing on the form of the mask with its empty eyes. I realized that I was interested in the mask for three very different reasons. First, I was interested in it for its kitschy qualities. Second, I was interested in it for its symbolism with ability to cover over things and for the fact that it is a blank portrait. This led me to the third quality that I liked about the masks- that the eyeholes are empty, but they create amazing shadows. In class, I decided that I wanted to create a painting of the masks in a circle with the perspective from below the masks, so that they looked huge. I set up the masks on white paper and put small candles inside each of them to emphasize the light that came through the empty eye sockets and through the nostrils. However, now I;m not quite really sure where I'm going with the project, and want to find new conceptual links to the mask, most likely focusing on the concept of the blank portrait.