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WHAT IS THE LIFE MASK?
The life mask is the evolution from the artist's practice of the death mask. The death mask was done to create a memory for posterity of note-able leaders, artist's or well- to- do patrons.
Today, it is an accessible, living art form. Perfected by the Hollywood studios in the early cinema days, the life mask is the basis for every actor's make-up and special effects creations. The full body casting process now popular for epic movies has catapulted the casting process into a vibrant and affordable artistic endeavor. In the modern theatre we must go to Amletto Sartori and his legendary work with Jacques LeCoq, John Louis Barrault, Marcel Marceau etc. Sartori is the undisputed master of the modern, theatrical mask. To Mask Is To UN-Mask..... The healing characteristics of the art of Mask-making are inherent in the process and sensitized in the result...As one approaches the mask-maker there is trust akin to one's Doctor or Therapist...There is the release; the shedding of Psychic layers as natural as a snake gliding to new territory. The physical relaxation before the application of materials is imperative. The total release---the "Buddha State." The Breath as Wave, The Heartbeat as Breath, The Wave as HeartBreath... The mind is empty material Being layered onto the mold of OneSelf...enveloped in warmth, darkness, silence and traveling to light Being unveiled by One's Self... The pleasure of the cool cave lifting off and releasing the Spirits to dimensions Untouchable yet visible Unknowable yet understandable Negative yet Positive.... Healing yet ART.......lmw in the shadow of the ecstatic masks lies the residue of ancient voices inherent in the realm of dreams........ AWAKEN THE SKIN AND RELEASE THE VEIL OF THE UNKNOWN answer the call of the Spirit; listen to the drum of the heart and walk with the ancestral confidence that belongs to human-kind. the mask provides the WAY to release the self to unsequestered gestures of reliance and mobility. the gifts of laughter and comedy blossom within the discovery of the inter-national genius of the mask genre...... FROZEN IN TIME ONE CHISELED MOMENT CAN EXTRICATE THE VOICES OF THE TRIBE........ |
