They've been around thousands of years, used in primitive and advanced civilizations alike. Masks are not just an entity of the past. When people are masked, they have the ability to be someone else.
Masks are a form of play and fantasy.
Gotelli, curator of the UC Davis Design Gallery, organizes the gallery's biennial Face the Nation international mask competition and exhibition. The juried show of 57 masks from U.S. and Canadian artists is open through Friday, May 16, in the UC Davis Design Gallery in 145 Walker Hall. Made of wood, dried watermelon, cigarette butts, peacock feathers and leather, to name only a few of the materials, the masks exhibit styles ranging from whimsical to haunting. The masks are an art form, Gotelli says, that practically anyone can appreciate. Even people who don't like painting or sculpture can like a mask.