Alabaster Mask, 100 CE - 500 CE
14
PF.3633
This mask touches and exhilarates centers of life beyond our present reality. It serves as a means of transforming the ordinary to the extraordinary, the natural to the supernatural. The...
This mask touches and exhilarates centers of life beyond our present reality. It serves as a means of transforming the ordinary to the extraordinary, the natural to the supernatural. The mask has always been used as a ritual agent of transformation in mesoamerica. The wearer of this mask, represented a God. He manifested the life-force. Through that ritual transformation joining the world of spirit and nature, man and God fused in the zone of mysterious transition marked by the mask itself. This mask is the seat of the soul, where the outer and inner worlds meet. We are left to ponder over the mysteries of the universe hidden behind this mask, and the awakened insights it has brought to our own inner spirits. This mask radiates energy from its dynamic expression and clearly shows the physical features. Powerful forces seem to emanate from the open spaces of the eyes. The mouth exudes power and determination of the spirit and nature, and man's desire to understand. It is an astounding work of art which makes our imagination productive and capable of conceiving the inconceivable, the divine.