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Perpetua

Materials used:

• elk jaw bone, Montana;
• painted plaster cast of my face;
• pheasant wing feathers, Montana;
• wood from Montana river shores, varnished;
• painted white coral, Hawaii;
• Iberville shale/”lightning rock” from Lake Champlain, Vermont.

(wall mount)

This mask was a true delight for me to create from start to finish. The materials (jawbone of elk, pheasant wings, coral, shale, and wood) with the design elements are strong and simple. Oddly, the name of this Mask Artistry piece came to me in the very early stages of playing with materials. “Perpetua” seems, to me, to deal with ever moving cycles, round and round, over and over. This mask asks us to consider the perpetual cycles we see in our lives, and offers the wisdom and strength to release those that no longer serve us.

This “Perpetua” mask can encourage our looking within by asking these questions:

What are the activities, belief systems, and routines we carry out, day by day, moment by moment, out of automatic response?

Which of those are no longer appropriate to the “who I am” or the “who I want to be” images and projections of ourselves?

Which of those do we choose to retain, hold fast to, or develop within ourselves?

We always have choices: what to keep and what to release. Many of the “doings” and “uttered statements” in our lives repeat, repeat, repeat, over and over, as on a loop. This “Perpetua” Mask Artistry piece reminds us to take stock or inventory of what we do, believe, or say… and then prioritize. We are asked to delete from our “personal files” that which no longer serves a purpose as to the creation of our highest good… and to re-energize those activities, beliefs and routines we choose to continue to embrace.

As I began playing with the creation of this piece, discovering the design possibilities through the basic raw elements of form, and asking questions through the spiritual art dialog process taught to me by artist and teacher Collette Brooks-Hops, the name “Perpetua” immediately came to me. I place the reminder this mask offers within an honoring of the element of AIR, as all up-to-this- moment revisions come first through our mindful conscious decision to reevaluate what we are projecting into the world’s energetic atmosphere, and touching, in ripple effect, all those in our humanity circle and global consciousness. This is AIR, mental activity, to me.

“Perpetua” – sounds like a goddess name. May we all use Her to explore those strands of life we hold in perpetual loops and provide the basis of who we are, individually and collectively. May we explore which strands to embrace… which to release… with gratitude. May this be our process, perpetually.