Michael Taylor Leather Masks

“Just recently I collected and arranged as many photos as I could find of old mask works.  It was an interesting project that has more to do with archaeology than record keeping.  Images of the earliest works are mixed with photos of family, friends and vacations.  I travelled a lot in those days and there are still many unopened shoeboxes filled with what I expect will be evidence of my earliest efforts.

If I had known then that the masks would hold my creative attention for so long, I would have kept better records, but hindsight is the reward of time.  Laying out these mask photos into a chronology I am overwhelmed by the visualization of that time.  Each and every year the works have subtly changed.  Through accident or intention, the masks continue to morph, growing in size and complexity as if they are on some course of development beyond my knowing.

One thing I do know with certainty is that the reason I am still designing and making these works is that the mask-form has revealed itself to be infinitely variable in the same way as humanity, and for the same reason.  The mask is representation of ourselves and how different we are from each other”.