Poets are masters of masks

frida@artyardbklyn.org
Apr 10, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Apr 17, 2020

“Poetry is full of artifice, not only the artifice of meter and rhyme, of metaphor and allusion, but also the artifice of voice and tone. Poets are masters of masks.” ~ William Harmless, Mystics

In NYC we are now mandated to wear masks in public. This week on the interactive section of our website ART YARD CREATE our inspiration is: DEPICT or MAKE A MASK.

Some of our crew are making new art pieces in response to the inspiration. Felix Plaza painted and printed directly on to preexisting masks:

Felix Plaza, "Mask with Figure", 2020, paint on mask

Felix Plaza, "$ Mask", 2020, silkscreen on mask

Felix Plaza, "Boy with Wings", 2020, silkscreen on mask

Akash made a drawing he calls “Akash’s Mask Thing”:

Evelyn drew a self portrait in her mask:

Dennis knitted his own mask:

Blaze shared some very cool and humorous photos he found of elaborate masks donned by NYC subway riders.

Catherine digitally altered her photo of Francois suited up to run errands.

Our friend Laura, who is at home recovering from this virus, sent a photo of her mask which she has on hand for sculpture projects. Laura will be putting it to use once she’s well enough to go outside.

Randall posted this sewn mask made by Figureworks artist Arlene Morris:

ree — Arlene Morris, Sewn Mask, (Figureworks Gallery)

Teaching Artist Glendalys Medina dreamed up the lesson for this week ART YARD Advanced Studio session via zoom and ART YARD at MS226 on Google Classroom: Draw a MAP of your quarantine place. Many added the beings (self, other humans, cats, hamsters, house plants) in that space.

Kevin's piece in craypas on black paper is just beautiful!

August really captures the birds-eye-view of his room!

Quentin uses the dark red to depict his apartment and the yellow his movements:

Sigrid depicts herself and her brother in pink her hamsters in purple:

Jade's use of gold is really lovely and brings an added shine to her space!

Marie tells us that she has always been baffled by maps. However, she depicts her space, and her cats as well as the things she is thankful for from quarantine beautifully!

Our partnership school PS 6 is now on spring break.

Teaching Artists have been busy making art during the quarantine.

Jacob Rath hosted a Passover Seder complete with gluten free vegan cheesecakes for desert:

Jacob Rath, Gluten free vegan cheesecakes for Passover

ree — Jacob Rath, "To Many Grids", 2020, ink on paper

Embroidered the phrase "Maximum Wage" onto a yarmulke to create more conversation around the idea of a maximum wage. Jacob explains: “A maximum wage is like a minimum wage, except instead of dictating the minimum amount that a person can earn it dictates the maximum they're allowed to earn. In a time of great economic inequality, I believe this is necessary for a more just world.”

ree — Jacob Rath, "Maximum Wage", 2020, embroidery on yarmulke

Flávia Berindoague shares two of her newest paintings:

ree — Flávia Berindoague, “Physical Distancing”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36”

ree — Flávia Berindoague, “Lovers”, acrylic on canvas, 25x25 in, 2020

Glendalys Medina has been as she puts it “drawing for days”. These terrific pieces are some of her Color studies. She is now inspired to make a few bigger ones!