Mystery Masks- Leslie Blackford and Lindly Haunani
20” x 10” x 3″
Polymer Clay, Paint (acrylic, oil and alcohol inks), Barn wood
The title of this piece is “Mystery Masks” since it was a mystery to us just how the piece would come together. In the early 90’s I participated in a traveling group mask show curated by Michael Grove and really enjoyed exploring the mask form. Eight years ago I played in Leslie’s ‘studio” as part of a group effort to help with the jump start of a series of masks she was making for a show. When I approached her with the idea of doing something similar with masks as an exchange/collaborative piece for the Synergy exhibit I was thrilled when she agreed.
After agreeing on a general size for the base masks- 3” x 5” – we both made five textured masks from translucent polymer and exchanged them. We then both added elements to these masks and antiqued them with burnt umber paint to highlight the textures and add cohesion to the overall piece. It was fascinating to see just how our personal favorites changed over the course of the project. Overall the sensibility of the piece is Leslie’s “magic” with sculpting masks- and being able to experiment with this process inspired me to work in a looser and more three-dimensional style. I am looking forward to experimenting more with the subtle color effects of the antiqued alcohol inks.
Here is how the Masks look kaleidoscoped via KrazyDad’s online tool.
