Creativity Comes Alive in Visual Arts

Students  Khalid Zulfiqar and Asad Farooq share their visual art experience:

This fall grade 9 and 10 visual art students commenced their mask unit.  We started by watching a so-called “inspirational” video, “The Loon’s Necklace”, a 1949 film based on a Canadian West Coast Native Legend.  Original masks in the film were and still are used in rituals and ceremonies.  Ms. Jokinen, our teacher then announced that we were responsible to make our own masks!  Worried, everyone started murmuring about deadlines and due dates.  Before we began to construct our masks, we had to look up and draw a mask, also noting the historical importance behind it. 

Our mask guidelines incorporated many precise steps.  We followed this by first watching an informative how-to video to learn how to make a plaster bandage mask.  Many students were afraid because we had to apply Vaseline and plaster all over each other’s faces. (see the photos below). Now don’t get us started on how hard it was to wash everything off.  After all our masks were completed we proceeded with attempting to smooth out the surface with sandpaper and gesso.

Now this was not the end of it - we undertook the struggle of having to design our own mask and apply our creative vision as well.  Just when we thought we were finally done, Ms. Jokinen reminded us that we had to write a reflection about our masks and the story behind it.  From building layers to different facial structures, and painting and adding hair, although it was hard and exasperating at times to get our creation finished, the feeling of accomplishment was more than enough return.