Having a geometric with a hint of futuristic designing style is what drew me to make my latest pieces. I have always loved fashion and when fashion week comes around I am that guy that wakes up at 4am in order to watch the live stream shows from Milan. Despite my passion for fashion, I cannot sew a zipper onto a piece of clothing to save my life but what I can do is create unique sculptures that catch the eye. For my next pieces I wanted to make something that wouldn't lie on a table or be in the corner of a room. I thought about making something wearable and came up with the idea of making a pair of masks. Since I had made a more basic mask in the past I was a little familiar with how the process worked out.
My mini mask collection is called Anubis, yes like the Egyptian God. Since my inspiration for these pieces came very much from ancient Egyptian structures, I thought it would be the perfect name. When looking through images of ancient Egypt I noticed that they used many different shapes just like I do when constructing a piece. My whole take on these pieces was to create something inspired by a historical era but giving it my very own futuristic take.
The process I go through while creating a mask is quite an elaborate one. One would think that I just start cutting little pieces of material and putting them together randomly, but this is not the case at all. First I seek inspiration from a source that is currently of my interest (in this case it was ancient Egypt). After doing a little research and finding out more about my inspiration, I start sketching and thinking of ways of creating something that exceeds my expectations but at the same time is possible to make. Once I have a rough design made, my geometry kit (such as my compass and protractor) becomes my best friend. My pieces are usually symmetrical therefore I work evenly from one side to the other. In this case the material that I used was a thin cardboard that I purchased at my local craft shop as the base. Despite the fact that most artists fear using hot glue because they believe that it is messy and looks bad, this is what I found to be more efficient while working with this material. Once I have the base of the mask at a finished state, I paint it to the color of my choice and finally put a coat of acrylic gel to give the mask texture and make it more sturdy.
So far I believe that these pieces have been the ones I enjoyed making the most. Despite the long and careful process, I was very pleased with the result and the fact that I turned my sculptures into something wearable. I collaborated with a friend of mine named Alejandro Abarca (who is a fashion designer) in order to shoot an editorial with his dresses and my masks. This just shows how you don't even have to know how to thread a needle in order to be in the fashion scene!
Here are a couple of more photos from the editorial.
Dresses: Alejandro Abarca
Photography: Kenove.
Masks: Kenove.
Models: Alexis, Venecia, & Kenove.
