In 2010 I became an interactive art exhibition for the public, along with the public, using masks to find inner selves and communicate those characters with improvised dialogue.
I have been making illustrated character masks since 2008 to use as medium to discover truths and hidden identity inside of us.
In some venues I became an interactive site-specific installation. In Deptford prison I barricaded myself into a cell and invited people in, to try on masks, and if they felt comfortable enough, improvise some dialogue.
In Glasgow, at the Victorian TSB repository, I hid in a stairwell with a John Bull print set and sheets of A3 paper. I encouraged visitors to try their hand at automatic writing, with me at first, then on their own.
Groups of friends wore masks on, and left to their own devices eventually ‘inhabited’ the masks with their own characters. They were then given a selection of cards with basic questions (Where are you? How did you get here?) to ask each other. The only rule was that they were not to tell the truth.
My masks are made from plastic, plaster of paris, papier mache and cardboard.
Still images from Mask!, taken in various locations around the UK and Europe
