So, a lot has been happening the past few days. My last kecak class (before the performance on Friday), my last mask carving class with Nyoman, and a general wrapping up of things before the final stretch.
On Sunday morning, I went to visit Newman. He is a leather mask maker who lives here in Bali, and has been making masks for decades, selling all over the world. He studied leather saddle work in the states, wood mask-carving in Bali with I.B. Anom, and traditional Commedia mask making from Amleto Satori in Italy. He has a unique and specific way of making, which is a combination of a traditional method mixed and his own technical/craft skill.
He talked through his process in his studio/home, working the leather with his hands whilst chatting about his travels, experiences, and life lessons.
Newman's workspace (small, simple, efficient)...
Step One: Drawing! Very important,very underrated...
Plaster cast (from an ex-girlfriend's face) which he uses as a base for all his masks (the face that launched a thousand...masks...)
This is the wooden copy of the plaster version...
This leather comes from the belly of the cow. It is vegetable tanned (which keeps it firm, and avoids ikky chemical preserves in artificial tanners)...
This is the stuff he uses to build the features up...
Working the putty over the face to create the sculpture to build off...
For this particular mask, Newman used a pre-existing mould (i.e. didn't built a sculpture) of an Arlicchino.
Checking the size of the leather on the face...
Once the leather is in the water, it is soft and mailable...
Soft soft leather (after its taken a dip in the water)...
Chopping off the extra leather around the nose...
Shaping the leather over the wooden mould (a clamp to hold the nose in place)...
Cutting the edge of the leather to create tabs to then tie the leather down...
The back of the mask, laced (it looks complicated, it's a simple pattern in which there must be an even distribution of tension. Like tightening screws on a snare drum)...
Detail of the lacing...
The initial shaping over the face (check out the nose flab)...
Using the cow horn mallet to create indentation in the leather (which can then be smoothed, or kept to create texture)...
Now, the masks, masks, masks...
Undyed leather masks, ready to have a wee paint job...
Neutral masks, animal half masks, penis nose masks...
Noses! Beautiful, beautiful noses...
Shelves of Commedia masks (check the Arlicchino shelf)...
Wooden 'face-horns' (moulds) that the leather fits over (N.B. Carved by local Balinese wood carvers)...
Shelves of masks and wooden plates...
More animal masks...
The different leather dyes Newman uses (spraying them with an airgun)...
Neutral masks(quite different to Satori's)...
The man in the mask....
His masks are to die for, I really could have spent days in there listening to the stories and trying on all the Zanni. A real pleasure.
