My Masks...

Ever since I made my first paper mache figure (it was a pig) at the age of six, by building the basic shape over an inflated balloon, I have been engaged and intrigued by the process. There is something almost primal about taking old newspapers or brown paper bags, and with the help of homemade flour paste turning these humble throwaways into a medium with which to create whatever one may imagine; the inherent possibilities of paper mache are really without limits.

For me, it is a meditative experience to layer the strips or bits of paper one at a time, by hand, to create the basic shapes, and then the intricate process of building detail. Working off of the Mexican tradition in paper mache, known as Cartineria, and the paper mache traditions of my own Indian heritage, my masks are a mix of cultures, as well as the culturally iconic. I might take the classic Mexican conceptions of the "Diablo" (devil figure), and ornament it with the traditions of Indian folk art. I suppose the masks are technically mixed media constructions as they often incorporate broken glass, beads, wood and fabric.

Show all current still available work in progress masks