Vivian wonders how the paper mache got there?!

Crests, crests, crests, crests… I think I figured out this Thursday what it was about them that I was so drawn to, and I decided that it was their curvy linear lines, the embellishments that surround their seals. Makes sense, I’ve always been a fan of art nouveau; especially Mucha’s JOB poster. It’s the crazy attention to detail, the tiny little elements that you just have to add in until its finished; it’s the filigree; it’s when you paint something in total focus, like Jan Van Eyck. It’s being anal, in the best kind of way, I think… (or at least that’s what Mary told me my very first day of drawing class midst fabric still life: “oh wow, you’re not doing this like the others” “oh?” “hm. you’re anal.” “[awkward stare]” “what’s your major?” “vis com…” “oh! good. you need to be anal for that.”)

It became self evident in my image board wall that what was really drawing me in was anything curvy, patterned, repetitious, symmetrical, and “finished” that was catching my eye. It was the facades of things. in both senses of the word. I also liked the idea of soft and delicate detail being created from hard materials, like iron and stone. Still, it is all a façade, a means of presentation – the entrance to a building or the shield you hold up with the family crest in a time of war; an indicator of something interior. However as the word façade implies, I like the idea that what is alluded to could always be a ruse.

Anyways, on Wednesday, before I had even gone to Theme Sequence, but had heard through the grape vine the open –ended weekend assignment I joked around with Megan and Regan that I should make my carnival mask for my project. Regan told me “no…well not unless it works for your concept,” and that was that… I didn’t think about it much until I realized how obviously the idea of a mask did work for my concept when I walked into a pretty well known (I found out when researching mask makers in Florence) mask maker’s shop named Alice’s Masks. That was it, I was a gonner. My innate obsession with ornament and detail, with being anal told me this was going to be the project; even if I had blown it by joking around with Regan. So, today I cast the mask completely from scratch using aluminum foil as my base. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it. I don’t even know if I want it to be a carnival mask, it’s certainly not my main intention. I can tell you this though, that I can’t wait for it to dry.

- v