Everyone wears masks
MY FIRST SERIES
Masks have been around for millennia and play a big role in many cultural festivities and ceremonies. A famous example is carnival, which is celebrated in many parts of the world. The oldest masks in the world are more than 9000 years old and were likely worn by the makers.
My interest in masks started around 2013, during my gap year. We got the assignment to create a self-portrait for the yearbook and I ended up taking a picture wearing a dough mask. Unfortunately, the picture didn’t make it into the yearbook, but it was the start of an idea.
The first mask
The first Mask I made was inspired by a sketch I made during an art class. We had to draw each other based only on touching the face while blindfolded.
The result of this exercise was a very stylized image, based mainly on the bone structure of my partner’s face. When touching a face, the bone structure is the most prominent feature of a face.
Finding this picture a year later inspired me to paint a mask in multiple colored blocks. Using the same structure as the original sketch.
A more philosophical approach
When I got more insights into autism I started to read about masking. Masking is the practice of acting like you are “supposed to” and not showing your real self.
Most people put on masks regularly. I mean, you behave differently when you are at work than when you are with your friends. You have a “work” mask and a “friends” masks. Normally, you won’t need your masks often, most of your behavior is accepted by society.
However, people with autism have to wear their masks almost everywhere. Some mask their stimming behaviors like drumming or rocking. Others hide that every conversation takes a tremendous amount of effort.
People with autism aren’t the only people whose masks rarely come off. For a lot of people suffering from mental illness masking is a part of their everyday life. For example, someone who is depressed might look happy to the outside world.
I want to paint masks which represent what’s behind them.
Every mask is different, just like every person is different.
Some are beautiful, others are falling apart before our eyes.
