“Grief Unmasked”
Photos by Tyler Ellis
Shock
For this mask, I desired to emulate the disorienting experience when one’s reality first ‘shatters.’ For the base, I created three plaster molds of a mannequin head with plaster landscaping cloth and adhered them to one another using hot glue. I used a mixture of white model magic and air-dry clay in order to create a seamless transition between the three faces. I attached white mesh to the middle mask in order to darken the eye area, drawing focus away from the wearer’s eyes and blending the eye holes with the rest of the mask. I then painted a layer of silver paint over the mesh and masks to further disguise the seams. This was to make sure the wearer is obscured, making the mask seem more like their actual face and amplifying the otherworldly effect. The multiple faces represent the disorientation and dissociation one feels when in shock. They also symbolize the occurrence of news passing from one person to the next. As news is shared, so is the shock, which is why I chose to overlap the masks in such a way where the eye holes serve for two faces instead of one. One aspect paramount to this design was the broken pieces of mirror. The shattering of reality when one first becomes aware of a loss is embodied through the hundreds of glass mirror shards emerging from the eyes and brows of the three faces. The environment around the mask undergoes heavy distortion through the many angles of the small mirrors, denying an outside viewer a clear picture of themselves or the world around them. As the trauma membrane, shock is meant to shield an individual from sudden and intense pain, but the jagged edges of the mirrors serve as a reminder of how the potential for pain still exists.
Denial
Creating the mask, I aimed to have three key characteristics, each representing a different aspect or version of denial. First, I wanted the wearer’s eyesight to be obscured by the black lace, blinding them like Oedipus blinded himself while in denial about his parentage and prophecy in the Greek tragedy. By concealing their sight, the wearer is metaphorically compelled to confront the notion of denying reality, obscuring themselves from the truths of their circumstances or from confronting profound loss. I chose to embody the detachment of reality versus expectation (death versus continued vitality) through the use of candles and white flowers. The candles are meant to be lit up, as if anticipating someone’s presence or return. They also serve as a metaphor for the perceived continuation of someone's “flame,” or life, burning on. Because of the combustible materials used to paint the candles black, however, they ironically will never be actually lit up. The final important aspect of the denial mask is the flowers, meant to represent innocence and naivety. White is a common color used to represent innocence, which is why I wanted to include it on the mask. Being in denial can sometimes be viewed as living in innocence, as the loss has not yet sunk in. By adding a vibrant and living aspect to the mask, this occurrence can be represented.
Guilt
In my own experience, guilt is an extremely overwhelming and suffocating emotion that bubbles up when one least expects it. I designed the mask to have a lack of vision holes and to cover the wearer’s full face in order to emulate this feeling. I adorned the plaster base with meticulously placed circles of hot glue, integrating foam and marbles onto the lower left side to introduce asymmetry and bestow a profound visual weight upon the piece. Initially, my vision for the mask leaned towards an organic, almost fleshy essence. However, upon crafting a preliminary version, I found it lacked the substantial presence I sought. In my second interaction, I increased the mask’s weight by embedding glass marbles beneath a brass metallic finish. This adjustment not only created a physical heaviness but also imbued the mask with a heightened visual gravity. The tension manifesting in the bulging on the left side serves as a metaphor for the gradual accumulation of guilt.
Anger
For the mask, I wanted to draw on inspiration such as volcanoes and animalistic tendencies, both of which can be unpredictable and explosive. I wanted to emulate the look of lava bubbling up between the cracks of black rock, as if it might erupt at any second. To do so, I established a black and red color scheme, with the red elements (the ridges on the horns and the hanging embellishments) taking a round shape similar to bubbles of lava. Both the horns and the jaw are reminiscent of animals, specifically ones prone to aggression (the fangs representing a predator, the horns representing a bull or other horned animal primed to fight). I included a jaw piece–similar to the bargaining mask which will be discussed in the next section–to represent the verbal aggression aspect of anger.
Bargaining
The most important aspect I chose to include in this piece was the religious iconography. There are two main elements: the cruciferous symbolism and the infernal features. The inclusion of these two contrasting features serves to depict a multifaceted conflict, encompassing not only the dichotomy of good and evil, but also what is desired and the stark truth of reality. The plaster mask covering the eye and forehead area deliberately obscures the wearer’s sight, serving as a symbolic representation and play on the phrase “blind faith” often held by many religious individuals. Since I was raised Christian, I included multiple golden crosses on the piece, one of which is prominently placed on the forehead. This location is where believers mark themselves with ash crosses on the first day of Lent, also known as Ash Wednesday. I chose to draw viewers’ attention upwards with the crowning piece, drawing upon similarities with the hats worn by bishops, along with the intricate beauty of stained glass windows in churches. I created a transition between the crown piece and plaster mask with a repurposed beaded collar, which, along with the beads hanging from the golden horns, represent prayer beads. The coins at the end of the beads serve as a reference to the Greek religious ritual of leaving coins with the dead so their spirits can pay the toll to ferry across the River Styx to the Underworld. They also serve as a direct homage to chips used to bargain. The horns represent the divide between the sacred and the sinful, evoking the imagery of both demonic elements and broken halos. This is the divide of which individuals try to bargain against: what is desired and what is reality. The phrase ‘deal with the devil’ comes to mind, particularly with the inclusion of golden horns and bony jaw frame, drawing parallels to the bony upper jaw featured on the Anger mask. This reflects the interconnectedness of anger and bargaining in the grieving process. I specifically chose the lower jaw for the Bargaining piece, as it is the bone primarily associated with speech, representing the prayers and bargains one may vocalize whilst in the bargaining stage.
Depression
The depression mask is the only masquerade mask in this series with a “classic” masquerade base–a black lace mask that covers the wearer’s eye area. I chose to utilize a classic masquerade mask as a base because the depression stage was the most familiar to my own experience with grief, having been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder after the loss of my grandfather Lolo. The gems dripping down from both the eye and the headpiece represent tears. The headpiece itself is meant to create a closed-off appearance from the outside world, reminiscent of the overwhelming and foggy feelings one might go through while in the depression stage of grief. One aspect I chose to include was the pearls and beads draped over the front of the face in a smile formation, representative of how depression and sadness can sometimes be masked, and not everything may be as it seems.
Reconstruction
The mask of reconstruction is unique in the way that all of the materials used (save for the headband to keep the mask on the wearer) are organic material: deer bones ethically sourced from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The use of organic materials emphasizes the concept of growth, which is also present during the reconstruction stage. Using the bones, I reconstructed the rib cage around the wearer’s face and crowned their forehead with the hip bones to look like another set of eyes. I specifically chose to remake the rib formation as the bones line up to form a ladder of sorts, representing the construction of a path to move forward from a loss. I also chose the rib formation to encase the wearer, placing them in the place where the heart usually goes. This placement represents the positive feelings that may arise while in the reconstruction phase (optimism, peace, hopefulness, etc.). The eyes formed by the two hip bones on the top of the head represent a new perspective–looking forward towards the future, rather than the past. I specifically chose to use deer bones, as deer are known to regrow their antlers after they lose them each season. This regrowth is similar to what the reconstruction phase of grief does–after each loss, one has the opportunity to grow back stronger and more resilient.
Acceptance
As the final stage of grief, the acceptance mask includes visual themes of clarity and ascendance marking the culmination of a transformative journey. The mask is primarily constructed of clear thermoplastic “petals” growing out from the wearer’s face and head, representing the evolution and new viewpoints that might arise after processing a loss. From the clear petals emerge both 2D and 3D flowers, along with mirrored butterflies. The butterflies are meant to symbolize the souls of those being grieved ascending into whatever afterlife is before them. Additionally, with those losses come rebirth of the self, similar to the metamorphosis caterpillars go through to turn into butterflies. Similarly, the flowers represent the growth one goes through while going through the different stages of grief. I specifically chose to use white and gold rose appliques, as they reminded me of kintsugi, which is a Japanese art of repairing broken things with gold. In essence, the Acceptance Mask serves as a testament to the profound interplay between sorrow and resilience, loss and renewal. Through its intricate design and nuanced symbolism, it reminds us that amidst the darkest moments of grief, there exists the potential for beauty, growth, and the emergence of new beginnings.
“Where words fail, art can follow.”
— Northwestern News Network, 4.9.2024 (22:32)