Maria Nguyen
Majestic Eagle Mask, 2013
Acrylic on Clay
This particular piece was inspired by the Pacific Northwest Coast Art in general and Haida religion Art in particular. Haida professional artists put everything they've got into their masks and bring them to life with
their extraordinary skills. These masks comprise particular elements such as formlines, ovoids, U shapes and S shapes. Depends on different coast, these shapes will have distinctive characteristics. Animal masks are very recognizable through their special and unique teeth, ears, tails, and many other elements. For this project, I decided to choose Eagle as my animal. From a long time ago, the swift and mighty eagle has always been the ruler of the sky. It strongly symbolizes the Aboriginals and also has the closest relationship with the Creator.
The three colours that I repeatedly used throughout the process of making my mask were black, red and white. Black as the first colour on the Aboriginal sacred Medicine Wheel which represents the West, physical and earth. Adjacent to black is the colour white which is the symbolization of wisdom. The third colour is red, a very strong and powerful colour in the Aboriginal culture which is also the symbol of innocence and trust. The last colour on the Medicine Wheel, which I did not choose for my mask, is yellow (gold). The reason that this colour does not appear on my mask is that even though it represents Eagle but it is a very garish and eye-catching colour so I think that it will not create a perfect and balanced colour combination if it goes with the other three.
I wanted the features on my Eagle mask to be obviously noticeable so I decided to choose white as the background colour or the skin colour so that red and black can be responsible for the attracting the viewers part. The mask was formed by using some main shapes such as form-line, U shape, S shape, and ovoid with a statuesque and noble design. The special thing that I love about my mask is that it is side view instead of the popular front view. The reason that I decided to make it like this was that it would be longer in length so it can have more space for more ''ingredients'' (details) which will help it to not end up looking incomplete and empty.
My mask is a semi-realistic design. The first unique characteristic that helps to identify the Eagle is the strong curved beak. "The mouth" has been formed as the S shape so that it helps to clearly express the strictness and augustness of the Eagle. I added a thin white line between the internal red part and the outside black part to brighten and balance the colours because the mouth would look dark if black and red were beside each other. I used the same technique for the little ovoid nose and the other two pieces, which I call them "decorations", as well. The most important element on the mask which is also the centre of attention is the eye. The eye is an ovoid shape with two pointy ends which help the Eagle to evince his cleverness and insidiousness. I purposely placed the eye slantingly in a particular direction to increase the wily look of it. Finally, the last piece that I want to analyze is the dark, angry eyebrow which is not the main element on the mask but does have a great impact in term of the face's expression. Since the eyebrow is also slanted in the same direction as the eye so when the viewers look at the mask, the irate, enraged look of the Eagle will be vividly and strongly conveyed through it. The final step of this process was outlining the edge of the mask with black paint. It really helped the mask to look more clear and neat.
"Majestic Eagle" was the first phrase that ever came to my mind when I was thinking about the title for my mask. I love it because the adjective is like a perfect combination of a ton of words which describe exactly all the distinctive characteristics of an eagle so I decided to go with it. :)
This is one of my all time favourite project that I ever did in my Native Art Class. I think that I could have painted the mask nicer and smoother if I had more time since I spent too much time focusing on the shapes and details of the face. But in general, I tried my best and put everything I've got into it so I hope that every one will love my final product :)! Thank you.
their extraordinary skills. These masks comprise particular elements such as formlines, ovoids, U shapes and S shapes. Depends on different coast, these shapes will have distinctive characteristics. Animal masks are very recognizable through their special and unique teeth, ears, tails, and many other elements. For this project, I decided to choose Eagle as my animal. From a long time ago, the swift and mighty eagle has always been the ruler of the sky. It strongly symbolizes the Aboriginals and also has the closest relationship with the Creator.
The three colours that I repeatedly used throughout the process of making my mask were black, red and white. Black as the first colour on the Aboriginal sacred Medicine Wheel which represents the West, physical and earth. Adjacent to black is the colour white which is the symbolization of wisdom. The third colour is red, a very strong and powerful colour in the Aboriginal culture which is also the symbol of innocence and trust. The last colour on the Medicine Wheel, which I did not choose for my mask, is yellow (gold). The reason that this colour does not appear on my mask is that even though it represents Eagle but it is a very garish and eye-catching colour so I think that it will not create a perfect and balanced colour combination if it goes with the other three.
I wanted the features on my Eagle mask to be obviously noticeable so I decided to choose white as the background colour or the skin colour so that red and black can be responsible for the attracting the viewers part. The mask was formed by using some main shapes such as form-line, U shape, S shape, and ovoid with a statuesque and noble design. The special thing that I love about my mask is that it is side view instead of the popular front view. The reason that I decided to make it like this was that it would be longer in length so it can have more space for more ''ingredients'' (details) which will help it to not end up looking incomplete and empty.
My mask is a semi-realistic design. The first unique characteristic that helps to identify the Eagle is the strong curved beak. "The mouth" has been formed as the S shape so that it helps to clearly express the strictness and augustness of the Eagle. I added a thin white line between the internal red part and the outside black part to brighten and balance the colours because the mouth would look dark if black and red were beside each other. I used the same technique for the little ovoid nose and the other two pieces, which I call them "decorations", as well. The most important element on the mask which is also the centre of attention is the eye. The eye is an ovoid shape with two pointy ends which help the Eagle to evince his cleverness and insidiousness. I purposely placed the eye slantingly in a particular direction to increase the wily look of it. Finally, the last piece that I want to analyze is the dark, angry eyebrow which is not the main element on the mask but does have a great impact in term of the face's expression. Since the eyebrow is also slanted in the same direction as the eye so when the viewers look at the mask, the irate, enraged look of the Eagle will be vividly and strongly conveyed through it. The final step of this process was outlining the edge of the mask with black paint. It really helped the mask to look more clear and neat.
"Majestic Eagle" was the first phrase that ever came to my mind when I was thinking about the title for my mask. I love it because the adjective is like a perfect combination of a ton of words which describe exactly all the distinctive characteristics of an eagle so I decided to go with it. :)
This is one of my all time favourite project that I ever did in my Native Art Class. I think that I could have painted the mask nicer and smoother if I had more time since I spent too much time focusing on the shapes and details of the face. But in general, I tried my best and put everything I've got into it so I hope that every one will love my final product :)! Thank you.
:)
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