Vejigante:Date completed: February 2022
Medium: Cardboard and Hot Glue Size: 18 cm x 19 cm |
Exhibition Text:All my life, People have never seen me as a Hispanic woman because I am quite fair skinned and have lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin my whole life. So when this project was introduced to my class, with the help of some peers, I thought that This would be the perfect opportunity to express my culture and get in touch with my roots.
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Planning:
In beginning this project, I began looking and studying photos of vejigante masks. I looked at what people used to create them and how they created it along with the history behind it. In my Sketchbook, I created a few drawing of my ideas and how I wanted to present them. I drew out how I wanted the masl to look from the side and the front and wrote down some ideas on how I wanted to execute the project.
Inspiration:
I wanted to create a piece that tied in with my culture. Growing up in Milwaukee, I have never really gotten the chance to get in touch with my Puerto Rican roots. So I thought it would be a cool idea to make something inspired by Puerto Rican Folklore that dates back to medieval Spain. When I was younger, I remember seeing these great masks and little figures around my house and my Abuelos house. They were vejigantes. Vejigante masks are said to represent these infidel moors that Saint James had defeated. So to honor him, people would create these extravagant masks to honor Saint James. The vejigante evolved into a folkloric demon over time, but it took on a new dimension in Puerto Rico with the influx of African and native Taino cultural influences. The Africans provided the bomba y plena drum-heavy music, while the Tanos brought native characteristics to the mask, which is the most essential part of the vejigante outfit. As a result, the Puerto Rico vejigante is a uniquely Puerto Rican cultural expression.
Process:
I have never made anything out of cardboard before. So This project was a real challenge. I started collecting cardboard at the end of November and throughout December, January and February. I took apart this medium sized rum box and used the separators inside it to begin creating the top jaw of my mask. I Bent it a little so that I would have a curve to it and added some small rectangles of another thick cardboard to support the structure. I then took a green soda box and cut it into varying pieces. I glued the green pieces of cardboard onto the top of the jaw. When I was done with that I turned it upside down and added different sized teeth along the edges out of a Truiscuit box. I cut the cardboard into long triangles and rolled them up then glued them to the jaw. When That was finished, I took a Coca Cola box(red) and cut it into little pieces as well and glued it into the inside of the jaw. Then I took smaller rectangular strips of the red cardboard and used it to create lips. Next I cut out, an area for the eyes and lined it in white cardboard. I took the thicker brown cardboard and used it to create the structure for where the mask would be help up by my head. When I got my desired size and shape, I took more of my green cardboard and covered it up. I used an orange cereal box to create these medium spikes on top the top jaw. I cut out different sized rectangles and and scored the brown part so it would be easier for me to create these small cylinders. When put together, they created these spikes. I used a drink carrier to create these small half circles to resemble nostrils as well and covered the outside with green cardboard and the inside with red. After that was done, I built up a structure starting from the eyes as an area that my head would hold up. And when I had that and when it finally fit around my head they way I liked it, I covered the whole area in green cardboard to match the rest of the ¨skin¨. When That was done I created the lower jaw for my mask. I built it the same way I made the top one but just a little bit smaller. From the top jaw I laid a piece of red cardboard onto the back of the mouth so I could secure the lower jaw onto it and also attach the tongue to it. I made the tongue the same way I made the horns. But instead of making them move in one direction, I wanted to make it twist and turn and just more lively altogether. I glued it to the back of the mouth. After I had the tongue secured, I attached the lower jaw on. I had to make sure It was very secure because it was quite heavy. So I added a good amount of hot glue of the top and the bottom of lower jaw so it would be strong. When I was done securing that on, I started working more on the head area. I cut out more strips of the green cardboard and covered that with it. when The head was nicely covered with the green cardboard I started creating more Horns/spikes out of red and orange cereal box cardboard. I cut out different sized rectangles and scored the backs of each one. I built one up on the side on each side of the head and one directly above the center of the eyes. And I built a few more that I placed kind of wherever I felt fit. Once that was done, I was basically finished. I went back and added more glue or some more pieces of cardboard onto areas I felt needed it. I also used the tip of the glue gun to melt the little strings of glue left over on the mask so it didn't look messy. Once all of our projects were finished, we actually got a chance to get photos of our us wearing and displaying them taken by a photography student at the the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Critique:
Compared to my inspiration, there are a few differences in creating my own piece. Most vejigante masks are usually made out of coconut shells or paper mache and mine is made entirely out of cardboard which posed as somewhat of a struggle to me. I have never worked with building anything of cardboard before so it was fun to try something new. I didn't use any crazy colors in my mask. I mainly stuck to primary colors along with secondary colors.
Experimentation:
I Like to do my experimentation while I go about my project. I have just always worked better that way. Through Trial and error. But I did do some practice runs in creating the horns, with learning how to score and bend the cardboard in the particular way that I wanted it. The colors I used in this mask didn't have any cultural significance they just went well together.
Reflections:
In the end, I believe that I did an excellent job with this project. Even though I have never done a project like this before, I had a good understanding of it and how I wanted to go about it. I know there are a lot of things I could improve on. In thinking about where my head or face would go, I didn't put much thought into creating an area for my nose and mouth to really go, So they were just kind of squished up against a wall of think cardboard which wasn't the most comfortable. I didn't put too much thought in that since I was just going to wear it for my presentation/critique. But, If I were going to remake this or create some changes for it in the future, I would create a better area for which my face would go. I would also add more horns on to the back of the mask so it wouldn't look so empty.
Connecting to the ACT:
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration upon your artwork?
- I am able to identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration upon my artwork by looking at my families cultural past and how I was raised and the people I surround myself with. Growing up I've never had any hispanic friends outside of my family. And All of my teachers were white as well. That defiantly has a great influence on my life.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- The vejigante evolved into a folkloric demon over time, but it took on a new dimension in Puerto Rico with the influx of African and native Taino cultural influences. The Africans provided the bomba y plena drum-heavy music, while the Tanos brought native characteristics to the mask, which is the most essential part of the vejigante outfit. As a result, the Puerto Rico vejigante is a uniquely Puerto Rican cultural expression.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Without really putting much mind into it, people sometimes forget how many different cultures there are in the world and how different their traditions are and their ways of life. People are often times afraid of the unknown. But I wanted break out of my comfort zone in order to explore another aspect of who I am.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
- I wanted to create something inspired by my culture. As a white presenting latinx woman that grew up in Milwaukee, I feel like I have lost this sort of sense of myself and my roots. Growing up I would go to work with my Papi in the summer to help him clean out his classroom. He had a giant Vejigante mask on the wall in his room. And my Abuelo had a smaller one made out of a coconut in his basement. They always used to scare me. My central theme was getting in touch with my families history and to emerge myself in my Puertorican roots.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the bases of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- There are many ways in which one can create a Vejigante mask; With cow bladders, paper mache, a coconut and even cardboard. There are so many different style of them as well. They can be simple or they can be extravagant.
Bibliography:
Vejigante Masks, http://www.puertoricanart-crafts.com/vejigante-masks.html.