With arms upraised, the artisan puts her hands together as though in meditation or to celebrate. She works in african sese wood to carve the stylized portrait and adds the rich textures of embossed aluminum to her skirt. Colorful beads adorn her blouse.
Love this piece.. Yolanda. Lancaster, CA. Tue Apr 28 2020
Rich textures cover this mask, achieved by etching the hand-carved wood and applying sheets of embossed aluminum to the features. She names the mask Boafo "helper" in the Twi language of Ghana's Akan people.
The artisan transforms seasoned sese wood into a beautiful mask. Embellished with applications of aluminum repousse, the beautiful visage is at once serious and dramatic. An eagle poses atop its head. The artisan names his original mask Asaase ye duru mask, an Akan phrase meaning "the earth is potent."
The artisan honors Akan history and ancestors with the original design of the "Fritete" mask. Meaning "Olden Days" in Akan, the dark brown round mask is ornately adorned with embossed aluminum and red painted details. The sese wood mask is attached to a lean stand for tabletop display.
Slanting eyes are defined in red in a Kwele-style mask carved from wood by Evans Doe Martey. Kwele masks represented the antelope whose flesh was eaten at the end of the beete ritual, which was traditionally performed to protect the people from witchcraft. The word ekuk means “protective forest spirit”.
