My latest work is a mask inspired by my ancestral Yoruba tribe from West Africa. I wanted to represent the model of an elongated and oval shaped face, as this is commonly seen on traditional masks from the region.

Here you can see an up close and angled perspective of the nose bridge of the mask. The area is raised slightly to show a break in the surface of the face.

The method of this painting further explores my current practice of singular images against a black negative space. For this blog post, I felt that it was beneficial to take photos of the side angles and above/below vantage points to fully emphasize the immense texture in this piece.

A side view reveals a crevice of texture that was created when I applied some very grainy pieces to the face surface. I did this to add drama to the piece, and to represent the tribal scars of warfare that this mask would traditionally represent.

The eyes are a deep vacant black with glowing gold specks that are raised and have texture. My initial response was that seemed “spooky” but I think it was necessary to have gold floating over top of a black area for the eyes; as it allows the eyes to have their own space and stand out.

If looking closely, you can see a faint outline of lips protruding from the surface. I tried my best but I often get impatient when I have a good idea that I am excited about. Adding lips to emphasize the African features was one of these ideas. The next time I attempt to make a mask like this, I would like to spend more time on smoother corners and more pronounced features.

Thank you for stopping by, and as always I enjoy reading your comments

-S