Aboriginal Mask

PROJECT ASSIGNMENT: Create a piece of art mimicking a Non-Western cultures techniques.

The aboriginal culture is a very interesting culture. Their culture was so rich in design and beliefs, I found the tribal masks to be most intriguing. I created this mask with a 48" concrete form tube, paper mache and paint. I cut the concrete form tube in half with a jigsaw and then cut out the eyes and mouth and rounded the corners. I put several layers of paper mache and then spray painted the entire mask black. The dotting technique was the longest process, it took me about 5 hours to complete all the dots. The flower-like symbol on the top of the mask symbolizes women and the circles on the bottom symbolizes a meeting place or watering hole. I took a more feminine approach to this mask because everything I researched was more focused on men.