Avant Garde Mask

From the performance-inspired painting, we advanced on to making an Avant Garde mask.  I incorporated some aspects of my Lepidoptera painting into the mask. Plain and fuzzy wires as well as stockings were the materials I used to achieve this.

Lepidoptera

Ballet first got into my mind when we were told to create a painting inspired by performance. As I searched for the best piece on YouTube, I found the "The Nutcracker". It is traditionally performed during the Christmas season, filled with magic and wonder as the child Marie’s toys come to life, including the wooden nutcracker soldier prince.  The one I watched was the 2010 show. Choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich, it was held at the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Moscow with performers  Maria as Nina Kaptsova and Artem Ovcharenko as The Nutcracker/ The Prince.

Screencaps

So in this painting that I made, I applied surrealism which uses numerous techniques to provide inspiration and free imagination by producing a creative process free of conscious control. Burnt umber was the poster color and since there was no available canvas at the store where I went, I used a document frame instead. I also call my painting "Lepidoptera", the scientific name for a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies, because I perceive ballerinas as butterfly-like beings whose dance movements give that feeling of being free. As you can see, the skirt is like a butterfly wing and the rest that are in my work, I hope, are decipherable for you.