HAND SEWN MASKS by Kathrine Page

The “Harlequin” stems from the 16th century folklore of a pantomime clown, whose day job was a cunning servant bereft of any scruples and characterized by a black mask and regalia covered in patches, from whence the pattern of repeated diamond shapes derive. The shenanigans included enlightened self-interest in the pursuit of Columbine, wife of Pierrot. By the turn of the 20th century the harlequin became a ubiquitous pop icon and caught the attention of Picasso. His early works included his new favorite subject material in his repertoire to symbolize his alter-ego—objects of love and the wandering outcast. Who knew! His later works exhibit cubistic abstraction as he sought to reexamine his identity: by distorting the old he rebrands a new identity within the genre of cubism. The Harlequin's costume of flat, bright colors, and bold, repeated surface pattern correlates to the cubist sensitivities of fragmentation. In this mask, I’ve assimilated the characteristics in a bold, decorative surface design employing fabric in a diamond shaped pattern counterbalanced by sassy buttons and lively ribbon.

MATERIALS: 100% Cotton, polyester ribbon, buttons, Pellon interfacing.