Prince of Persia

This is one of the earliest masks I made, and still one of my favorites.

Although the mask is fairly simple in terms of its composition and the bold but simple outlines that compose it--this one is about clear-cut shapes played off against each other--there is something about the execution of the very boldness of those shapes that I really like. (Of course, as with any object that must go from conception, design to execution, luck always plays a factor! And I feel I got lucky with every aspect of this mask.)

This mask was inspired by the fabric that forms the turban: I happened to find a dress in a thrift shop that the fabric comes from. The fabric was multi-layered: a base layer of dark green velvet, with a "web" of gold netting and pink blossoms (!) Once I stiffened the fabric (with my simple mix of white glue and water), the garishness of the original fabric went away as the colors darkened considerably, and the gold took on a tarnished appearance.

I have no idea how or why the fabric inspired me to think, "Persian Prince". I do believe I was reading the original Thousand and One Arabian Nights as issued by Harvard Classics at the time, so that may have had something to do with it. The face I came up with for the mask kind of followed ...

This is a very difficult mask to photograph, because it has a very hard, high gloss coat of varnish. I discovered that flash photography was pretty much out! I photographed the mask in natural light, coming in from a north window. While reflections are still evident, I feel the viewer has a pretty good sense of the piece.