This project is meant to take aspects of our identities, such as culture, hobbies, and interests, and incorporate them in a mask design that represents who we are as a person. This makes every mask unique.
My mask is painted with my favorite colors. Some patterns are painted on, which represent how I like to doodle. The mask design itself is based on Beijing opera, which I have an interest in, and the flowers are there in place of the usual headdress that some of the opera characters wear. The colors of the flowers also happen to fit the transgender pride flag, which represents part of my identity as well.
Art is used as a means of expression, and I feel like this project is a good representation of that. If any New Yorker were to make a mask based on who they are as a person, no two masks would look the same. New York is an extremely diverse place, and this project utilizes art to reflect that in a way that was personal to me. So many different “masks” and identities make up New York, and I think that, while we might just see people for their outer appearances, these masks are kind of a way to “expose” our inner selves and replace the outer appearance with it, hence this project.
