SELF-PORTRAIT MASK MAKING WORKSHOPS 

 

 

Through art, we can learn more about who we are, how we can identify with others, how we want to present ourselves and what is important to us. Self-portrait masks can be a quick, simple and enjoyable way to achieve this, but are also a great way of getting all ages involved in, and thinking about, the Arts. 

Artist Tim Mann, working with the Blackfield Creatives team, delivered a series of three workshops in Chatteris Library, in Cambridgeshire, as part of the Arts Council funded ‘The Library Presents’ programme. The focus of the workshops was for those attending to create self-portrait masks, using a variety of different materials. The group, which included three generations of the same family, drew their self-portraits in 2D initially before creating a 3D mask. Each member of the Group was then invited to stand up and talk positively about themselves, as part of a process to improve their self-confidence and to consider how they presented themselves to the outside world. 

 “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth”    (Oscar Wilde)