HISTORY OF MASK CARVING

Masks by LaCharles James.

Mr. James has been working toward expanding his carving concepts for
20 years. The ground work began when he took several classes in wood
and stone carving. He has also developed videos teaching mask making
on You Tube.

Mask carving is an ancient art form whose sole intent is to transform

people. The transformation is related to cultural beliefs,
entertainment, religion, and humor. Masks can transform people into
gods, demons and heroes. For those that make these masks it allows
them to connect with themselves, their environment and the universe.
It is a medium to express their creativity. The physicality and poetry of
this art form will introduce you to exhilarating forms of communication
and sensitivity. Lets take a look at the cultural concepts that are
involved in producing masks. Once we begin to understand these
issues you will begin to understand you’re your journey into mask
making enhance your creative abilities.
With few exceptions, masks have been made by professionals who were either
expert in this particular craft or were noted sculptors or artisans. In societies in
which masks of supernatural beings have played a significant ceremonial role, it is
presumed that the spirit power of the created image usually is strongly felt by the
artist. A primary belief involved in both the conception and the rendering of these
objects was that spirit power dwelled in all organic and inorganic matter, and
therefore the mask will contain the spirit power of whatever material was used to
make it.

This power is considered a volatile, active force that is surrounded by various taboos
and restrictions for the protection of those handling it. Certain prescribed rituals
frequently have to be followed in the process of the mask's creation. A spirit power is
also often believed to inhabit the artist's tools so that even these have to be handled
in a prescribed manner. As the form of the mask develops it is usually believed to
acquire power increasingly in its own right, and again various procedures are
prescribed to protect the craftsman and to ensure the potency of the object.
 If all the conventions have been adhered to, the completed mask, when worn or
displayed, is regarded as an object suffused with great supernatural or spirit power.
In some cultures it is believed that because of the close association between the
mask maker and the spirit of the mask, the artist absorbs some of its magic power.
A few West African tribal groups in Mali believe, in fact, that the creators of masks
are even potentially capable of using the object's supernatural powers to cause harm
to others.

Aesthetically, the mask maker has usually been restricted in the forms he can use
since masks generally have a traditional imagery with formal conventions. If they are
not followed, the artist can bring upon himself the severe censure of his social group
and the displeasure or even wrath of the spirit power inherent in the mask. This
requirement for accuracy, however, does not restrict artistic expressiveness.

The mask maker can and does give his own creative interpretation to the
traditionally prescribed general forms, attributes, and devices. The artist, in fact, is
usually sought out as a maker of masks because of his known ability to give a vitally
expressive or an aesthetically pleasing presentation of the required image.

This example of American Indian mask will give you an understanding of the power
involved in the mask making process. http://www.native-languages.org/masks.htm

I have been carving for over twenty years and now that I have retired I
am able to devote more time to this enjoyable pass time. This is one of
my latest projects.

“Sin Eater”

Bass wood, painted in acrylic

Mask carving is a cultural expression. Mask carving has developed around

cultural expression. Each culture, African, Asian, Indonisia, Indian, American Indian and many
more have developed expressions of their culture through mask making and to some extent are
represented on various web sites.

Masks representing potentially harmful spirits were often used to keep a required
balance of power or a traditional relationship of inherited positions within a culture.
The forms of these masks invariably were prescribed by tradition, as were their uses.
This type of mask was often associated with secret societies, especially in Africa,
where the greatest range of types and functions can be found. They were also widely
used among Oceanic peoples of the South Pacific and the American Indians and are
even used in some of the folk rites still performed in Europe.

Masks have served an important role as a means of discipline and have been used to
admonish women, children, and criminals. Common in China, Africa, Oceania, and
North America, admonitory masks usually completely cover the features of the
wearer. It is believed among some of the African Negro tribes that the first mask was
an admonitory one. A child, repeatedly told not to, persisted in following its mother
to fetch water. To frighten and discipline the child, the mother painted a hideous face
on the bottom of her water gourd.

Others say the mask was invented by a secret African society to escape recognition
while punishing marauders. In New Britain, members of a secret terroristic society
called the Dukduk appear in monstrous five-foot masks to police, to judge, and to
execute offenders. Aggressive supernatural spirits of an almost demonic nature are
represented by these masks, which are constructed from a variety of materials,
usually including tapa, or bark cloth, and the pith of certain reeds. These materials
are painted in brilliant colours, with brick red and acid green predominating.

In many cultures throughout the world, a judge wears a mask to protect him from
future recriminations. In this instance, the mask represents a traditionally sanctioned
spirit from the past who assumes responsibility for the decision levied on the culprit.

Rituals, often nocturnal, by members of secret societies wearing ancestor masks are
reminders of the ancient sanction of their conduct. In many cultures, these masked
ceremonials are intended to prevent miscreant acts and to maintain the
circumscribed activities of the tribe. Along the Guinea coast of West Africa, for
instance, many highly realistic masks represent ancestors who enjoyed specific
cultural roles; the masks symbolize sanction and control when donned by the
wearer.

Among some of the Dan and Ngere tribes of Liberia and Ivory Coast, ancestor masks
with generic features act as intermediaries for the transmission of petitions or
offerings of respect to the gods. These traditional ancestral emissaries exert by their
spirit power a social control for the community.

Particularly among Oceanic peoples, American Indians, and Negro tribes of Africa,
certain times of the year are set aside to honor spirits or ancestors. Among non-
literate peoples who cannot record their own histories, masked rituals act as an
important link between past and present, giving a sense of historic continuity that
strengthens their social bond. On these occasions, masks usually recognizable as
dead chieftains, relatives, friends, or even foes are worn or exhibited. Gifts are made
to the spirits incarnated in the masks, while in other instances dancers wearing
stylized mourning masks perform the prescribed ceremony.
In western Melanesia, the ancestral ceremonial mask occurs in a great variety of
forms and materials. The Sepik River area in north central New Guinea is the source
of an extremely rich array of these mask forms mostly carved in wood, ranging from
small faces to large fantastic forms with a variety of appendages affixed to the wood,
including shell, fiber, animal skins, seed, flowers, and feathers. These masks are
highly polychromed with earth colours of red and yellow, lime white, and charcoal
black. They often represent supernatural spirits as well as ancestors and therefore
have both a religious and a social significance.

Members of secret societies usually conduct the rituals of initiation, when a young
man is instructed in his future role as an adult and is acquainted with the rules
controlling the social stability of the tribe. Totem and spiritualistic masks are donned
by the elders at these ceremonies. Sometimes the masks used are reserved only for
initiations. Among the most impressive of the initiation masks are the exquisitely
carved human faces of west coast African Negro tribes.

In western and central Congo (Kinshasa), in Africa, large, colorful helmet like masks
are used as a masquerading device when the youth emerges from the initiation area
and is introduced to the villagers as an adult of the tribe. After a lengthy ordeal of
teaching and initiation rites, for instance, a youth of the Pende tribe appears in a
distinctive colorful mask indicative of his new role as an adult. The mask is later cast
aside and replaced by a small ivory duplicate, worn as a charm against misfortune
and as a symbol of his manhood.

Believing everything in nature to possess a spirit, man found authority for himself
and his family by identifying with a specific nonhuman spirit. He adopted an object of
nature; then he mythologically traced his ancestry back to the chosen object; he
preempted the animal as the emblem of himself and his clan. This is the practice of
totem, which consolidates family pride and distinguishes social lines. Masks are made
to house the totem spirit. The totem ancestor is believed actually to materialize in its
mask; thus masks are of the utmost importance in securing protection and bringing
comfort to the totem clan.

The Papuans of New Guinea build mammoth masks called hevehe, attaining 20 feet
in height. They are constructed of a palm wood armature covered in bark cloth;
geometric designs are stitched on with painted cane strips. These fantastic man–
animal masks are given a frightening aspect. When they emerge from the men's
secret clubhouse, they serve to protect the members of the clan.

The so-called “totem” pole of the Alaskan and British Columbian Indian fulfills the
same function. The African totem mask is often carved from ebony or other hard
woods, designed with graceful lines and showing a highly polished surface. Animal
masks, their features elongated and beautifully formalized, are common in western
Africa. Dried grass, woven palm fibers, coconuts, and shells, as well as wood are
employed in the masks of New Guinea, New Ireland, and New Caledonia.
Represented are fanciful birds, fishes, and animals with distorted or exaggerated
features.

The high priest and medicine man, or the shaman, frequently had his own very
powerful totem, in whose mask he could exorcise evil spirits, punish enemies, locate
game or fish, predict the weather, and, most importantly, cure disease.
 The Northwest Coast Indians of North America in particular devised mechanical
masks with movable parts to reveal a second face—generally a human image.
Believing that the human spirit could take animal form and vice versa, the makers of
these masks fused man and bird or man and animal into one mask. Some of these
articulating masks acted out entire legends as their parts moved.

Carving masks is to create faces of your experience. It is to put a face on your

knowledge. It is to transcend your environment and all that is within. It expresses
your belief and value system.

You may send your comments to:

[email protected]
Utube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2e0PXzddzU

You may type in “Jameslacharles” to view all videos

or mail to:

9630 Bruceville Rd.

#106-299

Elk Grove Calif 95757