Mask

Content

Background

The goal of this project was to design and fabricate a ,ask representative of the Oven as part of the sophomore acting class' rendition of Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck.

Design Process

Concept

The oven was a particularly interesting challenge because it typically isn't considered to be a character, any more than a door or a table might be in another story. This left me with little guidance on how to design a representation of the oven as a living, animate character.

In the text, the oven is the mechanism by which previous children were killed by the witch. Essentially, it is a gateway that separated life and death- it might be considered a psycho pomp, harvesting the souls of the dead. Further, I believe that, as a tool primarily intended for making food, the oven consumed these souls rather than guiding them to some afterlife.

As a class, we decided to design under the umbrella of German Expressionism, an early twentieth century German art movement that emphasized the artist's inner feelings or ideas over replicating reality. It was characterized by simplified shapes, bright colors and gestural marks or brushstrokes.

Mit zehn Lithographien von George Grosz / Heinrich Mann. (Pub.1969) Rare Folio PT2625.A43 K6

Mit vier Holzschnitten von Heinrich Stegemann / Karl Lorenz. (Pub. 1922) Rare Folio PT2623.O7 V5

Die Hausbücher der Nürnberger Zwölfbrüderstiftungen / German 1597 Bread Oven and Baking Amb. 279.2° Folio 67

Fabrication

The base material of the mask is insulation foam panel, which allowed for a large size without becoming excessively heavy. I cut 3 pieces to join at a sharp corner, forming a large angular brow ridge and vaguely humanoid silhouette. From there, I used a hot foam-carving knife to shape the mouth.

I wanted the mask to look like old corroded cast-iron. From prior experience, I knew that spray paint would interact with and melt the surface of the board. I used a base layer of black, and lightened some areas with a few passes of silver. The paint developed the intended texture but had an unintended effect on the teeth I had carved- some of them melted away completely.