Masked Identity

"Return to Nature (We Are One)"

Artist Statement:
My masked identity project lived a thousand lives inside my head before becoming what it is now. I was balancing between three ideas I really enjoyed, but I was gravitating toward the one that was inspired by Native American culture. About two weeks into November, my mom and I spontaneously drove to Melbourne to listen to a friend of mine give a seminar based on his book "Walking With Wisdom - A Path To Understanding". We were also able to go to what was called the "Native Rhythms Festival" with him afterward as well, and we walked around looking at artwork, clothing, jewelry, and crystals, and watched people dance, sing, and play instruments. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life because his seminar speech moved me in ways that I wasn't fully aware I needed to be affected. Even though my mom was uncomfortable at first, I felt comfortable rather quickly - being a student helps - and participated in the discussions. Everyone that was there that day grew in some way whether they realized it or not. Listening to him speak gave me the chance to spend time giving thought and energy to some very crucial aspects of existence in general that I might not always make enough time to contemplate. These are some notes I took during the seminar:

I also picked up what is called a "totem energy stone" that day with the symbol of a horse carved into it because I found out that the horse is a symbol of inner power and freedom.

I spent some time reflecting on how I felt after everything I experienced that day and could not shake my gravitation toward wanting to use an animal to represent how we mask ourselves as higher beings, forgetting the treasures of being an animal. I chose to create a wire armature of a very general and almost ambiguous animal head so that the viewer might be able to see several different animals in the one head, and I wanted to keep it calm in texture and color to mimic the way that putting on the animal head mask allows the person wearing it to ground themselves, quiet their mind, let go of the past, and find peace and freedom from their own restraints. The order that the photos are in tell the story of some very personal experiences - one of losing my two closest friends before coming to college, one of my struggle with gender identity - and my path to finding peace with both of those experiences.

Materials: Wire, masking tape, gel medium, water, tracing paper
Dimensions: N/A

Inspiration/research:

Sally-Anne Kelly