For my final, I created a mask inspired by my heritage I titled “mascarilla”. I was inspired by the works of Ana Mendietta, Frida Kahlo, and Marina Abramovic. I was inspired by Abramovic’s performances and her deep dives into body art, the possibilities of the mind, and the relationship that can be created between the artist and their audience. I was also inspired by Mendiettta, for her connection to her roots and heritage that she explored through sculpture, performance, and body art as well. I was most inspired by Frida Kahlo, for her lifelong dedication to self portraiture as an exploration of her country, her dual heritage, her time, and herself through doing so. I was specifically most inspired by her work, “The two Fridas” from 1939. In this painting, Frida explores herself as the daughter to an indigenous Mexican woman with conservative beliefs and a German Jewish liberal father. “Besides her paintings, she also had other vehicles for her to express her passion for Mexican crafts including contemporary silver jewelry and native materials like jade, favored by the ancient Maya,” a quote on Frida Kahlo from NY times. Realizing how I can draw inspiration from anything and anywhere as the many artists before me, I found I wanted my piece to similarly celebrate my heritage, incorporating symbols and materials that hold cultural significance to me as the first American born on both sides of my Ecuadorian/Dominican family.
My piece was inspired primarily by the traditional masks worn by Dominican during carnival. Our carnival is the oldest in Latin America, as we were the first to be invaded by the Spaniards, and our traditional style draws from all parts of our heritage which includes European, African, and Indigenous symbols and motifs. The masked characters are often called or described as demons or devils. From the outside looking in, the bulging or sharp eyes, large mouths with teeth, horns, and whips that dancers use can give a feeling of fear to onlookers not used to the scene. The creatures may also be thought of as ugly, scary, and therefore bad to those outside of our culture as all Latin Americans celebrate carnival in different ways. This was often how I heard this aspect of my culture described by the other side of my culture, creating a dissonance between the two. However, the masked figures can technically look like whatever the artist imagines as they are a manifestation of their soul and spirit, and there is no traditional right or wrong way to create one's regalia. My Ecuadorian side, which is similar to Kahlo’s mother, rejected aspects of our indigenous culture, and chose to align themselves more with Christian and European beliefs and ideologies. In doing so, I felt pulled between both sides of myself. One which was teaching me that these masks, and other parts of my heritage, was scary, ugly, and therefore bad and evil. Whereas the other side of me knew that these were protector spirits, who bring joy to onlookers, especially children.
I found that this push and pull between love and hate is ultimately the duality I often find myself living in. & I often felt confused how there could be so much of the two not only between two people, but also two cultures. I realized that oftentimes, we are taught to fear or demonize what we may find ugly, scary or are unfamiliar with. In the Bible, it always stood out to me when angels would first introduce themselves with the phrase, “Have no fear”. As typically in art, we portray them as babies, for example, and other times as white, frail men and women figures. However, it is known that in the Bible they are not described this way, but rather as horrifying winged creatures with infinite eyes. & they usually look like this to ward off the true demons. Usually, it is the devil and demons in the Bible that make themselves appear beautiful and familiar to humans as a way to tempt and lure us towards them. My piece is an exploration of these ideas, and a bridge to bring them together.
Marina Abramovic from Being Marina Abramovic, When No One is Looking, shares that “The first step is to get an idea. Not an easy idea but one that makes me go, “Oh my god. No, no, no, no.” An idea that gets stuck in my stomach. Then, I get obsessed and, finally, I say, “OK, I’m going to do it.” I found this quote to describe the process I embarked on creating my regalia. At first, I felt I wanted it to be fully out of clay, and for the performance aspect, I would just hold it up. Perhaps later on, I would be able to put it on my wall. But through trial and error, I realized not only is it too heavy, but it would serve a much better purpose as an actual mask, similar to my ancestors and similar to those still worn today for carnival. Thus, I created my mask with a foundation of cardboard and duct tape. The face and eyes were created with clay, and painted over with acrylic paint. The horns were created with an aluminum foil base and wrapped with fabrics. I used seashells to create sharp teeth. I also placed seashells on the top of the head with blue paint to demonstrate a beach shore. Both sides of my family come from the coast, my mother from Guayaquil and my father from Nagua. I, myself, too have always lived by the beach shore, regardless of where we have moved. To me, this shows the similarities we actually have, and that ultimately we come from the same place, regardless of the land we find ourselves on, we have always come from the sea, and we have also always returned to the sea. In a New York Times interview, Mendieta said, “The making of my ‘Silueta’ in nature keeps the transition between my homeland and my new home…It is a way of reclaiming my roots and becoming one with nature. Although the culture in which I live is part of me, my roots and cultural identity are a result of my Cuban heritage.” Through our work, we fight against the ways we are expected to be perceived, attempting to preserve what remains of the past while navigating our present identities and the future. I also used adornments such as bells, pompous, sequins, gems, and feathers in typical carnival fashion. I assembled these together using hot glue, white glue, duct tape, and super glue as needed. Finally, my piece is adorned with a veil, as used in my mother’s religious practices as a false symbol for protection and actual oppression. It was very important for me to include this aspect in the art, as it highlights the dual nature of my piece. The veil is seen as something pure in Christian ideologies, but with nefarious undertones. Whereas the face is openly chaotic and crazed, and yet has no ill intentions towards the viewer. I do believe that my piece in many ways represents not only my heritage and the history of my family and myself, but as well as the essence of my spirit as intended to do so. As someone who is both loud and quiet, light and dark, beautiful and ugly, and good and bad.
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