Over spring break, I visited the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames. Once inside, I walked up a couple of flights of stairs until I finally came to a large wooden door with a sign saying, "Gallery, 45th Juried Exhibition." When I first opened the door, it looked very dark and dreary without much to it. As I stepped farther in, the lights turned on automatically, and to my surprise I was surrounded by amazing local art. The works were mostly made by smaller Iowa artists and were extraordinary. Displayed in a large auditorium, I was drawn to a large canvas painting on the far wall. The work was titled, "Untitled (You"re My Fantasy)," by a Chicago artist, Gabriel Mejia, and it featured a mysteriously masked figure. .
When you first think of a mask you think of something along the lines of an object concealing the face, serving for protection, disguise, or you may even envision a miraculous performance or a religious ceremony. Throughout the years of ever changing culture and technology, masks have served countless purposes and have continuously been a mystery to me. The masked figure's facial features resembles that of multiple figures; the wrinkles on the hands make him appear old, full of knowledge and wisdom, yet the face looks young and full of excitement of what is yet to come. The man himself looks well-accomplished if you look at his mask alone, with its bright colors and with brightly painted gold and silver eagles swooping down from the top of the man's head. Yet his clothing is simple; a plain white t-shirt hidden underneath a dark blue bubble vest. As I stated earlier, the man's hands look worn, as if from a hard day of work. Yet his extended arms look like that of a young man, strong and muscular, with the veins popping out. This is what I personally believe gives the man a sense of such mystery; his features are very prominent yet very conflicted. Conflicting features and facial expressions sum up what a mask can do to a human being, altering them and their lifestyle, leaving us to wonder what lies underneath the fibers of that mask.
