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Adding A Face
Collection:UAL Art Collection
Date: 2020
Artist: Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell (British, Nepali, Jamaican)
Dimensions:
51 x 61cm
Medium: Darkroom print
Object number: UAC 1050
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DescriptionMaya studied BA Photography at London College of Communication. She says this piece 'was conceived through looking back to the ancient practice of mask making, especially that of my Nepali heritage, and their cultural and spiritual function through a contemporary lens.
Through transforming my face into fragments of a bronze mask and placing myself amidst nature, with eerily fast-moving leaves and a veil made out of traditional Nepali textiles – I create my own ritual of sorts, celebrating all that is ‘Other’ and the uncanny fluidity of identity. I play with the notion of one true face being a myth, and the necessity of being able to “add a face”.
“Adding a Face” is a political act. The word ‘mask’ has many possible routes of origin, whilst researching I came across a record of a German author claiming the word mask is derived from the Spanish más que la cara, which means “more than the face” or “added face”. Through creating face casts using alginate, I created casts of my face on the inverse of the mask, giving these doubles of my face an uncanny relation to my interior thoughts, feelings and psyche. Masks mystical powers are only fully realised when worn by a person, when put into motion and used in symbolic ritual.'
Through transforming my face into fragments of a bronze mask and placing myself amidst nature, with eerily fast-moving leaves and a veil made out of traditional Nepali textiles – I create my own ritual of sorts, celebrating all that is ‘Other’ and the uncanny fluidity of identity. I play with the notion of one true face being a myth, and the necessity of being able to “add a face”.
“Adding a Face” is a political act. The word ‘mask’ has many possible routes of origin, whilst researching I came across a record of a German author claiming the word mask is derived from the Spanish más que la cara, which means “more than the face” or “added face”. Through creating face casts using alginate, I created casts of my face on the inverse of the mask, giving these doubles of my face an uncanny relation to my interior thoughts, feelings and psyche. Masks mystical powers are only fully realised when worn by a person, when put into motion and used in symbolic ritual.'
