The mask is a symbol of concealment- an artificial barrier from which people hide behind for one reason or another. In current situations, most people are hiding behind a mask out of fear and protection from the potential risk of a virus. Through mainstream media, the mask has almost become a symbol itself for Covid 19, and the current pandemic. It’s interesting to see how one simple item develops into a global symbol, one that everybody knows immediately its connotations and story.
Thinking about the current events, concerns, and experiences- I decided to consider what else this mask could symbolise. In a time of anxiety and panic, i wanted to look into more potential positive connotations to the mask. One image that is frequently recurring in my work is the butterfly- a symbol of transformation, and also hope. Thinking about the pandemic situation, hope is one of the strongest feelings we can maintain during times of crisis. When everything feels like it is quickly falling apart, holding an element of hope helps us to tie things together, to prevent them from falling apart further. Butterflies always seem to flutter across my path when i feel down about something, and so i wanted to integrate them into this design for a mask. Another element of hope, is growth. Ruminating on how we as communities and as a global community can grow from this situation, in every sense of the word. Initially i began thinking about integrating any kind of plant in my design; but then i started to think about the impact our quarantine and social isolation has on the outside world. Currently, being outdoors feels like you’re standing in an abandoned area. Places usually brimming with people are desolate and sparse- reminding me of abandoned buildings. In my mind, the image of an abandoned building always contains an overgrowth of plants- nature taking over something man made, and man abandoned. So, in terms of plants, I started thinking about fungi, a family of plants people relate to poison due to their properties that can cause human illness. I thought this could be an interesting dynamic, something that human consider to be dangerous growing on something that is used for protection- almost a comment on the real fragility of human life, and the juxtaposition of health.
Developing this idea further, I plan on creating this mask using the medium of paper sculpture- using the material as a symbol of delicacy and fragility- much like petals or butterfly wings. Sturdy enough to conceal and maintain, but delicate enough that it still has potential to break.
Process of creating the mask:
Measuring my face roughly to create a template on cardboard (a repurposed amazon package); sketching out the shape of the mask, and cutting out; cutting out the eye hole; painting the mask white using acrylic paint; cutting out a paper butterfly template; illustrating line shapes patterns, creating an almost optical illusion aesthetic; cutting out and designing mushrooms to stick onto the mask. Illustrating fungi and other plant designs onto white mask; sticking the external pieces to the mask.
The physical mask differs slightly to the original working sketch- mostly down to experimentation and trial and error during the making phase. Inspired by the visuals of masquerade ball masks- concealing yet decorative. Decoration is both symbolic but also slightly hypnotic (patterns on the butterfly wings), representing the symbolic illusion that masks are- a “false appearance”.
Caitlin Noble 