Heartfelt congratulations to my dear friend Lowell Fiette on his new book. Mascaras: Secret confessionswas recently published by Editorial Tiempo Nuevo (2024). The book will be on display at the opening of the exhibition “LoÃza Colobó Máscaras” at Casa Daniel Lind Ramos, Colobó de MedianÃa Alta (Rte. 187), LoÃza, Puerto Rico, from 4 to 7 pm on Wednesday, July 24th. [NOTE: This book launch has been postponed! However, you should still check out the book at Editorial Tiempo Nuevo.]
The exhibition and book launch coincide with the Feast of the Apostle of Santiago, a major cultural festival held in Loiza every year in late July. The author has spent many years researching this festival, its trajectory, its historical meaning and all the cultural pieces, masks, costumes and performances associated with it.
Description (by Lowell Fiet): The masks I’ve included here are contemporary from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, but also reflect the first 30 years I spent in the U.S. Similarly, they reflect areas of pre-Christian Europe where wooden carved masks still exist, such as the winter festival and carnival masks of Lazarim (Viseu district) and Usilhão (Bragança district) in Portugal, and Krampus masks in Central Europe.
I have also studied and highly valued African masks, where there is no doubt the influence of a vast wellspring of imagination and creativity. Culturally, African masks are a major global resource, and the original aesthetic and spiritual driving force of all masks and their study. However, it would be misleading to see my masks as “African”, not because this influence is not present (more so in some masks than others), but because in many cases the influence is general and indirect, not necessarily primary.
The masks that have inspired me the most over the past 50 years are the “Vegigante de Coco” from Loiza, Puerto Rico. When I first came face to face with a Vegigante mask in a small shop in Castor Ayala, Loiza, in December 1975, I was able to say, “I know you.” Since then, I have met thousands of Vegigantes, and Vegigante mask artists, sculptors and painters have been part of my circle of colleagues, collaborators and friends for the past 30 years.
Finally, I must say that the greatest joy of making a mask is the process of carving – of chiseling, cutting, and watching the gouges that form the eyes, mouth, teeth, nose, ears, forehead, etc. But this is also the easiest management of the totality of creation. The work and the art is in the act of scraping and sanding, and in erasing as many traces of the gouges as possible, unless they are essential to the design. Not to create a perfectly smooth and perfect finish, but to allow the sculptor’s hand to be hidden in the art. I spend as much time sharpening the gouges as I do carving. With the sharpest gouges possible, the carving will be better and the sanding will be less frequent. It will also reduce the chance of bloody wounds and other accidents. To protect myself, I wear a steel mesh glove on my left hand. We make imperfect things. Some are imperfect, some are not. That’s the nature of handwork and the beauty of finding and getting to know the wood and allowing it to talk to each other.
Finally, I must say that the great joy in making masks is the process of carving – watching the gojiu that are chiseled, cut, and shaped into eyes, mouth, teeth, nose, ears, forehead, etc. But this is also the simplest management of the totality of creation. The work and the art is in the act of scraping and grinding, and of erasing as many dents in the gojiu as possible unless they are essential to the design. Not to create a perfectly smooth and perfect finish, but to allow the sculptor’s hand to hide in the art. I spend as much time sharpening the gojiu as I do carving with the chisel. With the sharpest gojiu possible, the carving will be better and there will be less need for grinding. It will also reduce the chance of bloody wounds and other accidents. To protect myself, I wear a steel mesh glove on my left hand. We create imperfections, some of them more imperfect than others. That is the nature of handwork and the greatness of finding wood, getting to know it, and allowing it to dialogue with itself.
For purchasing information, https://www.libreriaisla.com/products/mascaras-confesiones-de-un-tallador-secreto
