Masks of Guatemala
Critic: Silvia Acosta
Year: 2011 - 2012
Duration: 6 Weeks
During this 6 week travel studio we were tasked with developing a thesis, project, and program at a given site for the growing town of Antigua Guatemala. The ideas generated for this project were to be found in the place and through the many paintings we completed over the six week period.
My project developed into a place of history and culture. In exploring Antigua and the surrounding towns I learned about the varied masks of Central America. It was a beautiful exploration of how these masks define place and space. It is an art form that is carried down from generation to generation by the dancers and the families that maintain the masks and costumes. The transformation into the character of the masks becomes an act of freedom from normality of the everyday. Thus, I developed a place to house the past and allow for event to transpire. My final project was developed as a place to house a rotating collection of masks and a outdoor space for ceremonial dances to be held.
The first part of our trip was to paint. More specifically, it was to paint the world around us, explore, and, using water colors to record our surroundings.This allowed us to develop concepts about the city and project we were assigning ourselves to complete over the six while traveling through Guatemala.
