Mask

Two slightly different pix (mostly it is a light issue) of three masks I have made. From the top this was a black clay with Amber Glaze. To the right is "raw" dark brown clay. I fired it without glaze but dusted ash on it. The left is the Soda fired mask with B-Mix.

This is wet greenware. A mask made of SB-Red and then white Porcelain slip.

But Masks...

A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise , performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body.

 Roxanne Swentzell ( http://www.swentzell.com  ) a Pueblo Potter from Santa Clara Pueblo, makes some masks that are reflective of the sculptures she makes.

I have always had a pull towards masks, it is a common attraction I think.  The idea is often discussed in terms of "parts of self", the idea that we all have many masks we put on. Jung however, used the term for only one very specific part of the self. The Mask, for Jung, is also called the Persona. This is the public self or public face of the SELF.  In these senses the Mask is a part of the self that is tailor made to present to others... hiding or "masking" other parts of the self. For Jung, this is especially true of the Shadow. That is a totally different conversation.. the Shadow and art...

But in ceremonial uses Mask is part of the ritual. The taking on of something outside of ones self. The mask does not cover and hide (like the mask in a masquerade or robbery) nor is it a created part of the self that hides the rest of the self (as discussed above). In this case the mask is a representation of someone or something else...

So the mask can be a connection to something in the spirit world, allowing one to "stand in" for a spirit, a santo, a loa. As a stand in you take on that thing.

So what about the mask not being worn. The mask on the wall.  It is a representation of this "other" that one would take on, spirit or santo or loa or part of the self. It represents this on its own, its connection only exists because of your emotional connection to it rather than literally putting it on... yet this is the connection between the viewer and any piece of art.