Joshua Kats
For the mask, I wanted it to be black and white because that is my main art style, and I value simplicity. There’s a lot that can be told from a few words, and I wanted to reflect that with this mask.
For starters, the angel and the skeleton on the left represent my relationship with religion. On one hand, I respect my religion and follow it, as I was raised to do so. On the other, I want to drop everything and redefine who I am, without a care in the world whether I mouth “hell” or “satan.” In the end, however, no matter what I choose, I hope that both sides can come to an agreement with one another and share a drink.
On the right-hand side, you may see a hand with the mark “AD” on it. Besides being an homage to Bioshock, it represents the fact that we are our worst enemy. It takes a lot of acceptance to understand who you truly are, and I put the hand there because I wanted to show that we all have our demons, but no matter how hard they claw at your face, you have to keep your chin up and keep going.
Finally, there are three masks glued onto the mask. Besides the mask-ception, they represent two things. Each mask is from my favorite shoes, and there are only three because I wanted them to be indicative of the Japanese proverb. It states: “The Japanese say you have three masks. The first mask, you show to the world. The second mask, you show to your close friends, and your family. The third mask, you never show anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are.” (a.k.a. mask-mask-ception)
I was going to add binary rain on the top, and text on the bottom that said “Rex est luscus,” but I feel like that would’ve clouded it too much. I like it the way it is, simple and effective.
(side note – I did add it onto the mask already but I don’t really think it turned out that well so I used an old image. ? )
