Checking Responses : Zaba Is Born

Now that I had got both my adornments in place, I feel confident and happy. 

However, before I begin making the actual masks, I felt it was important to test the masks on an audience. This check was purely to gauge whether the visual symbolism in the mask was creating any meaning or emotion in the spectator. I got the masks printed on cardboard, put them on myself, took a few pictures and put them up on Facebook and Instagram, seeking emotions and reactions from people. I was truly in for a big surprise, the comments were delightful, insightful and reaffirming. The symbolism was working! 

When I created this mask, I was clear, there should be no gender to this mask. Mask 1 was not supposed to be anything, it was just ‘IT’. Then many people saw a happy frog king, hence Zaba (meaning frog in Serbian) was born. Through this mask, I am adorning ‘Abundance’. All the visual symbolism in the mask is playful and earthy, with multiple elements allowing for many, many meanings. This mask is a place of play, much like Maya, a space of many realities. And the feedback I received reaffirmed many of these ideas! Based on the feedback I received I also decided to give each of these characters a special power. Zaba's power is Rain! 

Take a look at the feedback -