The Mask Project Sculpting I--2011

Last fall in Sculpting 1 one of the assignments was a mask project.  The professor offered to let me be one of the people to cast their own face.  I accepted the offer.  The process of having your face molded is scary.  Straws are left poking out of your nose- to allow you to breath.  Meanwhile, sloppy goop is plastered all over your face--sloppy goop which must stay out of the nose holes.  While assisting another student with her face casting- some liquid entered one of her straws.  The professor insisted that she still had the other straw to breath through.  One nostril does not equal two nostril air intake.  He and I had a little heated disagreement after, as she panicked during the procedure and it was nearly a failure.

I had my bare face casting and had to think of something creative.  I eventually decided on a take on the Egyptian death mask.  I had soft wooly balls of various sizes and colors.  Prof wanted symmetry of size and color and placement of the balls.  This was nearly impossible, due to the selection I had.

This is prior to placement of goop.  The goop used is dental form material..used when crafting dentures and partials. It is molded to face, allow to set, then used as a form for plaster.

This was a first attempt at ball placement- but it developed into something else. I sort of disagree with the professor- I think that symmetry in design is boring.  The head dress was my first attempt at paper mache.  I made a flour and water mixture,soaked newspaper and placed it over a plastic bag scrunched into a form.  It worked but it is not really good quality.

The master who inspired me with the colors was Kandinsky:

I picked up this poster at a garage sale for a dollar.

This was changed a little later--I made the eyes different- pupils horizontal, like a goat's!  The color is off in this picture.

I thought I had achieved the symmetry he wanted, but his final comment on the project was that the balls were not symmetrical enough.