PAPER MASKS

I'm a fan of carnivals and their colorful, sometimes cheerful and creative yet visually appealing masks. It is a magical atmosphere allowing people to socialize and communicate different identities through fun and celebration. Sometime ago, in shops selling arts supplies, I noticed Paper masks. They are white, just like the canvas calling you to paint right away. I bought a few pieces to try to paint or draw on them, without having a clear idea on my mind on what I would draw or paint. Generally, the synonym for masks are Venetian style masks, for which there are very skilled people producing them from paper mache technique. So I decided to try something new. My idea was to somehow modernize them in a way for them to still be elegant just like Venetian ones, but modern. I had graffiti and comics styles on my mind. So I made a series called "Not the Venetian style masks". It took me quite a lot time to finish one, because I used a very thin black marker and crayons. At one point I felt like I was finished with that series, and had a desire to make a series for kids. So the "Zoo Parades" series come up. This masks are mostly white, but each one of them is having an animal drawn on it. For kids I used only animal motives. Lately, I developed new experimental series with just one element - line. Then I applied the highlighters lines or surfaces, to highlight the idea and to introduce color. The "NN notebook" series came up, because it reminds us on drawings in our notebooks while listening to lectures.