African mask artist (Engels)

African mask artist

The African mask artist's training, which may last many years, involves the knowledge of traditional carving techniques and how these apply to the social and religious objects he creates. His craft can be learned as an apprentice in the workshop of a master carver, or sometimes these skills are passed down from father to son through many generations of his family.

The artist holds a respected position in African tribal society. It is his job to provide the various masks and sculptures for use in ritual ceremonies. His work is valued for its spiritual, rather than its aesthetic qualities.

When artists and collectors in the West first took an interest in African Art, they did not appreciate its social or spiritual function. African art was simply viewed as a naive genre with a strong visual impact.

At the dawn of the 20th century, European artists were looking for new forms of expression that challenged, rather than simply illustrated, their rapidly changing world of ideas and technology. The traditional techniques of realism and perspective seemed overworked and predictable.

Their solution was to draw on images from other cultures and fuse them with European influences to refresh the tired traditions of Western art. The new perspectives that these cultures offered opened many doors of development which led to the cross-fertilisation of ideas and styles that constitute our art world today.

The expressive power of African art was fundamental to this revolution and to the development of the first modernist styles: Cubism, Fauvism and Expressionism.
Today, the finer qualities of African tribal art, like the qualities of good art from any continent, are more clearly understood and have assumed their true position in the art of mankind.

Sadly however, most traditional African artworks are now produced for the tourist trade. Although some of these objects are examples of skilled craftsmanship, collectors suggest that many lack the character that is generated by a spiritual, as opposed to a profit motive.

Art without a 'spiritual dimension', in the broadest sense of the term, never transcends the level of mere craftsmanship and is unable to communicate those elevated emotions that are born from a deeper mystical inspiration.

The Function of an African Mask

In the early 20th Century, artists like Pablo Picasso and Andre Derain were inspired by the bold abstract designs that they discovered in African tribal masks. They collected and used these works of art to influence their own style. In effect, they used African culture to refresh the tired tradition of figure painting in European art.

As a result, we now tend to admire the bold design and abstract patterns of African masks through European eyes. We appreciate them as exhibits on museum walls, cut off from their original meaning and magical power. However, this is not how they were designed to be viewed.

African masks should be seen as part of a ceremonial costume. They are used in religious and social events to represent the spirits of ancestors or to control the good and evil forces in the community. They come to life, possessed by their spirit in the performance of the dance, and are enhanced by both the music and atmosphere of the occasion. Some combine human and animal features to unite man with his natural environment. This bond with nature is of great importance to the African and through the ages masks have always been used to express this relationship.
 

The Materials of an African Mask

African masks are made from different materials: wood, bronze, brass, copper, ivory, terra cotta and glazed pottery, raffia and textiles. They are often decorated with cowrie shells, coloured beads, bone, animal skins and vegetable fibre.

However, the majority of masks and sculptures are made of wood for two reasons:

1. Trees are in plentiful supply in the forest.

2. The carver believes that the tree has a spiritual soul and its wood is the most natural   home for the spirit in the mask.

Before it is cut down, a sacrifice may be offered as a mark of respect to the spirit of the tree requesting its permission for the carving. Its life is governed by the same natural and supernatural forces that inspire the artist and his community. This type of ritual is common to many cultures that have a close spiritual bond with nature.

Wooden masks are often coloured with natural dyes and pigments created from vegetables, plants, seeds, tree bark, soil and insects. Occasionally they are splashed with sacrificial blood to increase their spiritual power.

The tools used to make a carving - traditionally the Adze - are also endowed with their own particular spirits. When tools are passed down through different generations, they sometimes inherit the spirit and skills of their previous owners. They, like the artist, his carving, and the tree from which it came, are all part of that 'oneness' of nature - the ecological vision that informs all African tribal culture
 

The Use of Pattern in African Masks

Bold pattern, either painted or carved, is a powerful and expressive element in African mask design.

Most patterns tend to be geometrical and symmetrical and are used in a variety of ways:

Pattern is often used as a form of coded information.

Parallel, zigzag, cruciform, curved and spiral lines, representing scarification marks or tattoos, are frequently used to adorn the planes of the mask face. These can denote social status or have magical or religious powers.

Different geometric patterns are sometimes used to distinguish between male and female masks.

Square and triangular checkerboard grids are often carved to decorate sections of a design.

A variety of complex braided hairstyles adorn the top of the head.

Interlacing crosses and geometric forms are often seen as details on African masks. With the spread of the Moslem faith in Africa, some of these designs show an influence of the decorative ideals of Islamic Art.

 

The Elements of Style in an African Mask

There are two main forces that influence the style of an African tribal mask:

1. The traditional style that is dictated by the social and religious beliefs of the community.

2. The individual vision of the carver.

African tribal artists do not try to create a perfect representation of their subject. Although some realistic portraits are made, others celebrate more abstract qualities like nobility, beauty, courage, mischief and humour. They create an idealised version, emphasising those elements that they consider most important.

COMPOSITION - Formal symmetrical arrangements of line, shape and form in figures and masks evoke integrity and dignity.

TEXTURE - Skilled craftsmanship, fine detail and quality of finish are of great importance to the African tribal artist. Highly polished surfaces which represent a youthful healthy skin reflect the idea of beauty and virtue, while rough dirty surfaces suggest fear and evil. Many African carvings portray the idealised human figure in its prime, brimming with health, strength, and celebrating fertility or virility.

SHAPE - African masks take on many forms. They can be oval, circular, rectangular, elongated, heart-shaped, animal or human, or any combination of these.

The simplification and abstraction of visual elements in the art of the African Mask emphasise its expressive power. When we look at Expressionist art of the 20th century, we tend to think of it as a European style. One look at elements of African art shows you where this visual vocabulary was born.