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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2003)
BY SYLVIE PEDERSON Tickle Your Fancy W MASK OF METHUSELAH, PAPER, BY BONNIE BARTELL. hat culture doesn’t have a tradi- tion of masks? All over the world masks are associated with reli- gious rituals, carnival, theater, opera and dance. From Switzerland to India, people hang masks on their doors to ward off the evil eye. Whether lofty or low, spiritual or earthy, serious or playful, the fascination masks exert has deep, primitive roots in our psychology. The mask-bearer has permis- sion to be another, and through masks another world is allowed to enter our own. Whatever their function, masks also possess an aesthetic dimension, and the lat- ter is primary at Karin Clarke’s current Mask Invitational exhibit, for which the gallery invited 11 local artists to create masks. The result is a playful array of masks bearing the stamps of widely differ- ent imaginations. Ceramics: Faye Nakamura’s exquisite- ly carved and painted ceramic masks include two large-format, full-head masks, one inspired by Japan, the other by Egypt, and five smaller eye-masks. All are deco- rated with incised motifs (flowers, dancers, women’s faces), delicately carved flowers, seashells, or snakes. Colors are soft and luminous. Paper: Paper, in skillful hands such as Bonnie Bartell’s, can acquire surprising sculptural properties, as in her all-white Mask of Methuselah. Though quite varied in form, Bartell’s masks are highly playful, often inspired by a punning imagination. Maskerade Ball uses a softball with a bright pink-and-gold eye-mask on. Framed Mask for Invisible Man consists of an empty rec- tangular frame decorated in fluorescent pink. Her Three Masketeers is a triple mask created out of a long narrow panel of col- ored paper. Mark Clarke’s From the Toy Box, a three-headed mask, also demonstrates the versatility of the paper-and-cardboard medium. The central part represents a toy soldier’s head wearing a bright red cap, one side of its face painted green, the other dark red and purple. To the right emerges a boy’s MAKE A WISH, MIXED MEDIA, BY JUDITH SPARKS. With Masks. reddish gold profile, whose expression evoked for me the folk hero and prankster Till Owlglass. To the left springs a bird’s torso, painted gold over black. These toys are from an attic’s trunk, far in aesthetics and sensibility from today’s manufactured toys, but I suspect they would speak instantly to the imagination of any contem- porary child. Painting and collage: Clarke’s Mask depicts a young, gently enigmatic face, painted in rich but muted complementary tones of reddish and greenish browns. Below, collaged letters spell the word MASK. I found this discrete painting to have enduring power. Wood: In Sculpture on my Mind, Clarke assembled wood pieces of different sizes and shapes, stained almost black, to create a tall mask in a “primitive” vein with a dif- ferent face in front and back. On one side, an abstract sculpture functions as a head- dress that evokes abstracted birds in flight. For Mask Head and Head Mask, Jim Bartell used cedar boards cut out and carved into profiles. Nails, together with copper wire flattened and coiled, create beards, hair, and facial marks. Mixed media: Judith Sparks’ pieces show remarkable diversity of means, moods and inspiration. Make a Wish is an intriguing assemblage of animal bones, the largest suggesting a human skull-mask. Strings of seed beads dangle from its chin, each with a wishbone as pendant, and dice peer out of its sockets. Meanwhile, in Scarey, Sparks makes clever use of a single photograph of President Bush printed in different sizes, grain texture and darkness to create a photo-montage in the shape of a flower bouquet, as well as a political spoof. In contrast, Beverly Soasey plays with minute variations on the mask-shape theme in a series of five masks painted sienna and red with black accents, and decorated with feathers, sticks and beads. Other media used include metal (Harold Hoy), glass (Annah James), wood appliqué (Barbara Kensler), hydrocal (Miriam Kley) and stoneware with found objects (Betsy Wolfson). After viewing this display, visitors may well be inspired to dream up a mask of their own in any medium they fancy. “Mask Invitational” is at Karin Clarke Gallery, Oct. 21-Nov. 15. ew GIFTS for your GODDESS: Illume & Scented CANDLES, Amber, Garnet, Moonstone, Coral, Lapis, etc., JEWELRY, Yoga Mats, Zafus, Malas, CDs, Books, Journals, Prayer Flags, Quan Y in RUBY CHASM 152 W 5th @ Charnelton (Farmer's Union Marketplace) M-Sa 10-6 • Su 12-5 • 344-4074 NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Oregon Family Dental, PC John J. Park, DDS “Providing quality care with a gentle touch.” 344-7900 • 11th & Chambers • Eugene Holiday Sale! ALL FUTONS - ALL FRAMES ON SALE! Up to 50% OFF Selected Items Hurry in for the best selection! 521 Main St., Springfield, OR 97477 • 744-3343 2085 NW Buchanan Ave., Corvallis • (541) 757-2445 Financing Available OAC • 90 Days Same As Cash! • VISA/MC/DISC www.michaelsfutons.com NOVEMBER 6, 2003 21
