Kate Tume

As Kate experienced death and transformation in her own life, she used mask making to manifest what she could not voice to make this rite of passage tangible, a means to inhabit my emotions. Kate’s piece is her interpretation of The Triple-Faced Deity – three masks representing aspects of the human condition: grief, transformation and transcendence.

Grief is the Divine Hag, inspired by the Cailleach, Celtic goddess of winter and death, The colours – the blue of death and the red of life reflect the ancient traditional folklore.

The second – Transformation – is based on a personal dream, imagining the pink moth as a spirit guide and magical portal. The pink moth destroys and metamorphoses again and again, as we all do throughout life.

Finally, the mask of Transcendence seeks to personify joy, a portal to healing. All shades of yellow clash in a childlike symbolism of play and ever-possible moment of happiness.

Kate has developed her own techniques for mask making, using stump-work, wire and mesh for the base, with hand-embellishment, appliqué, padding and surface embroidery.