The Mask
This figure is painted on a vintage lace background. The artist wanted to experiment with painting on a textured fabric surface and the lace adds another level of femininity. It hides the canvas just as the figure hides her face. This piece is playful and warm. The elaborate mask a woman puts on is not necessarily always a social requirement. Sometimes she does it just to be someone else.
Responses (1)
November 30, 2021
I like your experimentation with the lace background and am impressed by your ability to impart detail with such a rough surface.
From a theory perspective, I think there's more here than just levels of femininity. With the subject holding a mask to her face there is a sense of deliberate mask-wearing. I don't see it as her hiding her face, but rather choosing to put on a certain face. The lace background speaks specifically to the domestic side of femininity — household chores, sewing, laundry — while also denoting a kind of elegance or sexiness. Lace is one of those materials that are so distinctly feminine, yet often aimed at seducing the masculine, so it's an interesting choice. All together, these elements of the piece exude a confidence that is both sure of itself and artificially constructed.
Please keep experimenting with textiles in your work, I really think you're onto something here.
November 30, 2021
I love it! Thank you for all of your points. I completely agree. I always pictured this piece with a white and gold French looking frame hanging in a woman’s dressing room.
- Category
- Figurative
- Type
- Painting - Framed
- Materials
- Oil, Canvas
- Dimensions
-
20.00 inches wide
24.00 inches tall
0.20 inches deep - Weight
- 15.00 lbs
- Location
- Breckenridge, CO, US
