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child and adult portraits and strange but beautiful paintings
Jessie and mask
Jessie holding a mask
Oil on board, 13x13 inches
Martin Dace 2003.
Jessie posed for this competition entry for an image for a performing arts society.
The idea is to show the actor behind the mask. We act a part, and it is better if we consciously try to act it well. Behind this role is the real person, in Greek the PSUCH (psyche). According to Homer, at death thoughts and actions survive only a little time before being scattered by the winds, and only the psyche lives on. Personality corresponds to the mask; the word personality derives from the Latin persona, a mask. In classical times an actor would speak through a mask, Latin: per sonare, to speak or sound through.
All images are copyright © Martin Dace 2003, 2005: you must email me for permission if you wish to publish or reproduce my pictures. Permission will usually be granted for web use provided my authorship and copyright is acknowledged and a link back to my site is provided. A link from my website to yours is also a possibility.