A display of masks featuring demons, monsters and other spine-tingling creatures is part of a Halloween-themed art exhibition running until Oct. 31 at the Medicine Hat College Cultural Centre.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
The inspirations behind a group of masks, part of a college art exhibition celebrating Halloween, comes in part from old Japanese folklore as well as a more recent horror movie/series classic.
Art and design students at Medicine Hat College were given free reign to explore their inner dark side to create spine-tingling artwork, from paintings, acrylic, clay work, ceramic and even short films featuring stop-motion, all now on display until Halloween in the One-on-One Gallery at the Cultural Centre.
A demonic mask, one of 80 total artworks, sits in the top row for a good reason. Its creator was inspired by a Japanese spider, Ushi-Oni, a creature said to have an ox’s head with sharp upward-curving horns, wicked fangs and a slender tongue, and has six legs with long singular claws at the end.
“I wanted to design it after a traditional Japanese geisha but I wanted it to be more like a Japanese demon, so an oni,” explains artist Morgan Szajcz. “That’s why I wanted the separated jaw to emphasize the demon aspect of the character itself.”
Perhaps equally freighting, Twisty the Clown from American Horror Story can be found with a frightening grin along the top row, next to an assortment of ghouls, wraiths and other monsters.
Student artist Kadence Tremblay says the detailed ceramic masks took students around four weeks to create. They began using dry clay to make an initial mold they could fill with plaster and silicone.
“Then we filled it with liquid plastic so that it would harden into an actual mask, and then we just went to town with acrylic paint and used a buzz saw to get the edges smooth,” says Tremblay, who was inspired to recreate Twisty the Clown.
A reception for the art exhibit was held Thursday evening, easily holding the attention of the public visitors.
“I was listening to a couple talk about it (mask display) and the guy was trying to explain it to his girlfriend,” recalls Szajcz. “And they were, like, staring at it for a long time and saying really nice things.”
The annual art exhibition is curated and installed by executives and members of MHC’s Visual Arts Students Society and has become a tradition to host in each fall.
“This year’s show includes sculptural masks, Vanitas paintings, spooky drawings, scary motion graphics and more,” says Jessica Plattner, art and design program instructor.
The exhibition is open to the public and may be viewed Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
