My Mask Project I chose to design my mask around the ideas of self image and stereotypes. One side represents stereotypes that society often associates with teens, in particular, teen girls. This side also shows some of the effects of these stereotypes. I added shards of a broken mirror. This represents the fact that the way we see ourself is usually shaped by criticism and negativity from others, giving us a distorted picture of who we really are. The other side of the mask shows how I see myself, and how I have become the person I am. I added several badly drawn band logos. I think that music has actually shaped me in so many ways. Most of my “rebellious” or “free spirited” attitude came from music that I was exposed to as a child. Music has also gotten me through bad times, weather it was a song that I listened to in order to help me feel less depressed, or something that would set the mood for a performance. The red lines symbolize self harm, which was a large part of my life, and, in the long run, changed me is some way. The flower was supposed to represent nature, because growing up with two nature loving parents gave me a unique interest in the outdoors. Also, growing up in Durango, which is a very nature-oriented town, I was socialized that I had to love nature, and being in nature. While I do love spending some time in nature, I don’t like to spend every second of my life, which is what I feel that some people expect me to do The feature that is part of both sides was the tape on the mouth. In life, people tend to silence your voice a lot, and I see it a lot every day. The large crack down the middle of the mask was originally an accident, but I realized that it could also be used to symbolize something. When I first started designing my mask, I wanted to cut it into two pieces, one for what is now each side of my mask. After realizing that I didn’t like tow that looked, I decided to glue it back together. What was first a mistake now represents the fact that we, as people in today’s society, sometimes have to break ourselves down and rebuild ourselves in order to get an image of ourselves that we really like an are proud of. This project challenged us to take ourselves apart and find what makes us who we really are. Sometimes we don’t really understand why we are the way we are, but if we look at the places that we came from, and all of the experiences we have had throughout our lives, it is easier to know who we are, and why we might say the things that we say, do the things that we do, and act the way that makes us ourselves.
My Mask Reflection For the mask project, we were asked to design a mask that represented us and how we had been socialised in our lifetime. We had to include metaphors and symbolism of the masks that we wear everyday. To prepare, we looked into what it means to be socialized. It was interesting to see how different life situations can affect the way we act and think. In the beginning of this project, I wasn’t very motivated to do my work. That changed when we started learning more about what affects the way we think. In the end, I think that I really ended up spending lots of time on this project. I wanted to make a mask that looked good, as well as told a story. I had some minor struggles with making the actual mask, but in the end, I had a mask that I was proud of. I also think that I did well with my essay. In my opinion, any project or question that requires you to question who you are and why you are that way causes a lot of personal growth. This mask not only challenged us to look into ourselves, but to look at the world in a new way. We learned about many problems in this world, which I think made us all more aware.