Masks and Myths

These are the masks the Artmaking as Playful Prayer participants made this week - we also did Touch Drawing (a type of intuitive mono-printing developed by Deborah Koff-Chapin) - which warmed people up. For me, the Touch Drawing always breaks things loose . . . and I think it made the mask-making much more organic. I'm really hoping to attend the in-depth Touch Drawing Workshop next summer . . . maybe tomorrow I'll post some of the ones I did this week.

With masks, we get to invent new identities and try on ancient archetypes. We get a chance to act out our own myths and stories. In some spiritual traditions, the masks worn to represent different deities in rituals and dances are considered too powerful for anyone save trained priests or shamans to wear. While poking around a friend's blog today, I found a link to the Endicott Studio, an on-line journal dedicated to mythic arts. Artwork that deeply engages us in the expression of myths. What a yummy thing for fall . . .