HAND SEWN MASKS by Kathrine Page

Emma Amos (d. May 2020) belonged to the radical art collectives, Spiral, and subsequently, Guerilla Girls, whose activism addressed misogyny in the art history world. She famously quipped that she was a member of a “famous clandestine women’s group that worked at night and did not ever go without masks on our faces.” Her life, artistic legacy, and activism mattered. Now that we don’t go anywhere without masks on our faces, her series “Falling” inspired this design. Whereas Amos painted figures or objects that appear to be tumbling through space, I sewed buttons that dance across the mask like dandelion seedheads tumbling in the air. Though her canvases beamed with color and figurative imagery, I chose a neutral palette and abstract design. The simple composition belies the time-consuming labor put forth to assemble—hand-sewing leather and all those tiny buttons.

MATERIALS: Cotton, polyester, silk, leather, buttons, Pellon interfacing