2nd Place Winner

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.