Truth in a Mask: Conclusion

Production of Flight of the Mind continues to soar and we will treat our readers to another excerpt later this week. In the meantime, exciting news has come from the Denver Hospice Mask Project. 

Every two years, the Denver Hospice solicits masks designed by celebrities, authors, artists, musicians and local personalities. Read about this year's fascinating array of masks here.  In the spring, the masks are auctioned off online and in Denver. All the money goes to the hospice to make compassionate care-taking accessible to families whose loved ones are nearing death. 

Marcus' mask, an interpretive rendition of the painting, How Time Flies, brought in a good amount to go towards helping make end-of-life care and comfort a reality for many people. So many of the masks were astonishing, and the whole endeavor shows a bright and hopeful face, a testament to what can happen when creative people come together for a cause. Visit the Mask Project site to see a showcase of these faces, all true and beautiful.

Read about Marcus' mask in our entry, The Mask Revealed. For curious minds, who want to see the process of creation, read our post, Beauty and Truth in a Mask.   

Stay tuned and subscribe to this blog for more (and more frequent as the completion nears) updates and excerpts of the book, Flight of the Mind: An Artist's Journey through Paralysis. 

New Moon Masks

Masthead for The Mask Project

Here we are again at the new moon, and the Denver Hospice Mast Project is in full swing. From now until mid-May you can bid online for over 400 masks created by artists, celebrities and local Denver, CO movers and shakers. All the proceeds from this bi-annual benefit go to Denver Hospice to aid their mission of providing end-of-life care that "encircles those facing advanced illness with unprecedented levels of comfort, compassion and expertise."

A visit to the auction site reveals an astonishing array of masks - from funny, to lovely, to seriously odd - a virtual catalogue of expressions, all valid responses to the human condition! You'll find masks by artists and well-known personalities, such as David Sedaris, Sarah McLachlan, Kevin Nealon, Paul Simon, The Manhattan Project, and the entire cast of The Office, just to name a few! Marcus created a mask to donate and we documented his process over the course of a moon cycle in the last several blogs. See his creation here.

Visit the site and tell us about your favorites. It's a perfect activity for the new moon as we all face the season ahead, fascinated and ready to be astonished.

The mask revealed

The finished mask.

This weekend has been earmarked since the beginning of the year as one for sacred celebration. The first full moon after the spring equinox, known as the paschal moon, marks the Jewish observance of Passover. And the Christian holiday of Easter is always on the Sunday following the paschal moon.

And what a moon! On Friday night, we saw the moon rise above the French Broad river and the pale golden light on the water looked like a pathway into worlds beyond the imagination. All the dogwood blossoms unfurled this week, to receive the moon's clean light and glow from within. And all weekend long when the apple trees shed their blossoms into the wind and sunlight, one could almost imagine flecks of moon dust sifting down to glitter every leaf and blade of grass.

As the moon revealed her full face, Marcus completed the mask for the Denver Mask project. Following the raven from How Time Flies, the mask reveals a world beyond imagination, a world the paschal moon coaxes us into believing. Along the planes of a human face, the raven disappears beyond the ridge of the left eye, into a scene of grand calm and flowing beauty. The watch, embodied in the right eye, trails along. And the eye that inhabits the watch is astonished. The face of the mask is about to fold in on itself and reveal everything in one fell swoop.

Just as the paschal moon wakes us up to the sacred celebrations of spring, the full face of Marcus's mask can wake us up to a world beyond imagination that glows as if lit from within.

We might all see something different when we look up at the full moon. I see a woman's face, and she appears to be singing. Some people see a rabbit; some see the man in the moon, some see blue cheese, some see different things in different seasons. The same is true of Marcus's mask. What do you see when you look the mask in the eye? You are welcome to share your thoughts below.

Dark of the Moon

Tears of Time

This has been a big week for the earth and sky. Tuesday marked the first day of spring with the vernal equinox, day and night of equal length. From here on out, until autumnal equinox, the hours of light outnumber the dark ones. And today - Thursday, March 22 - the moon is new.

The new moon, also known as the "dark of the moon" is a good time for planting and starting seeds, especially now on the leading edge of spring. Plants started during this hallowed time will grow as the moon grows, magically emerging out of inert darkness, blossoming into ripe fullness to bask in the light of the sun.

So much life begins under the cover of darkness, safe and warm. Until it finds expression in the light of day - through love, art, good words, hard work and grace-full gestures.

I like to think of Marcus's mask for the Denver Hospice project as a representation of the moon's other face . . . her dark side.  This is the face we never see, but would recognize instantly as the face of subterranean wisdom that grows within our psyches - truths about life and mortality and a land beyond time. These truths need the mask of art to give them faces and permit them to speak.

What does the moon's dark face look like to you? Plant a seed with your comment below. And stay tuned for the finale of the Mask Project series. . .

Beauty and Truth in a Mask

Whether you know the origin of the warning to beware of March 15th or not, the day, coming in the middle of a stormy month, carries an ominous and reckless feel. It is a day when anything can happen, and one must be watchful for the unexpected, glancing over the shoulder, on the lookout for mishap and betrayal.

On a day like this, a mask would come in handy. Though we often associate masks with dishonesty and think of them as props used to hide our true selves, they have more power than mere subterfuge.  I think on the Ides of March, the common conception should be reversed. So I'm declaring the 15th of March to be Mask Appreciation Day.

There's a sense in which a mask can be liberating. Crafted or chosen with care and attention to detail, masks allow us a special freedom to be exactly and defiantly who we are . . . in disguise. A creative mask could be the expression of our most daring dream or boldest imagining, offering us the opportunity to recreate and reinvent ourselves, without the trappings of our ordinary "operating personas."

In our darkest moments, when we are most vulnerable, a mask has the power to protect and transform. Marcus knows this from his own experience. Bringing beauty and truth to the surface, he is currently at work creating a mask for the Denver Hospice benefit, The Mask Project. For this project, he will use the watch and sky from How Time Flies as his spring board. We will document his creation here.

"The aim of art," writes Aristotle, "is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Let's toast to the Ides of March then, and appreciate the power of masks to accomplish the revelation of those inner truths we can not always and readily wear on our faces, but require the bold artistry of a mask to express.

Reflecting on his early intentions with the mask, Marcus writes:

My goal is to refine the watch idea which will center around the left eye. Perhaps a complete watch crying parts that will be flowing over the inner housing, my eye will remain in the center but will look more like Julie Speed's "The Oculist".... The independent eye surrounded by mechanical parts. Tears of Time. The right eye socket on the mask will become a beautiful, tranquil scene offering a feeling of continuation.

Think about how you might create your own mask. Given a blank face, how would you fill it?