Six-week online course taught via Zoom

Thursdays, September 19 - October 24, 2024
7-9 pm ET (New York time)
$175 Patreon Members / $195 General Admission

PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time

“A mask is the face imagination gives to a god.” --The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images, Ami Ronnberg

Halloween, Day of the Dead, the fall equinox, and a general understanding that “winter is coming” invites merry making revelry and the opportunity for seriously getting in touch with your shadow self. What better way to do this than through the transformative process of mask making? 

Via illustrated lectures, guided research and hands on mask making, students will explore demons and diabolos as archetypes of tricksters, whether they be gleeful, sad, jubilant, or dangerous (or something else all together). We will explore mask making as a transformative and playful catalyst leading the personality to transform, evolve, merge with unknown properties and more. Never made a mask before? Bryan will teach a step-by-step process, how to design, develop, and create your own mask. The techniques shown will be papier-mâché over a clay sculpted face of your design. Already have mask making skills? Great! Bring your expertise and skills and join the process; all skill levels are welcome. Participants will leave with a finished mask of their own inspiration and design, and the knowledge to create their own in the future.

This autumn, join us for a class that inspires you to respond to the creative transformative nature that the fall season brings upon us. 

*Note: while we will have time to work on our masks in class, the papier-mâché process is meditative and not fast, some work outside of the class is expected in order to finish on time.

MATERIALS LIST

• 4.5 pounds of Plastilina (a non-hardening plastic-based artist’s modeling clay)

• Clay cutting and shaping tools (optional, found on Amazon) I find a metal butter knife works just as well because the papier-mâché does not allow for super fine details (those can be painted on or added on with other materials).

• 8 ounces of white glue (Elmers) and a small container with a lid to keep your glue mix 

• Petroleum Jelly such as Vaseline (any brand will do): approx 4 oz. (Amazon, or purchase at your local pharmacy)

• Blue “Shop” paper towels (these are more durable than standard kitchen paper towels (which do not work). You can get these at any hardware store or on Amazon usually for between $3 and $5

• Plastic bag to cover plastilina when not working

• Base for mask such as a bowl or plastic takeout container

• Acrylic paint 

  OPTIONAL and can be purchased after the mask is underway

• Creative Paper Clay (a creative strong easy material that is lightweight and used for details. These can be added on the surface of the mask.

• Additional materials to adorn the mask, such as found objects or anything that can be picked up at a craft store.

• -Plaster Strips (these are great for reinforcing masks - to make them stronger)

Bryan Melillo has studied meditation in the Jñana and Bhakti yoga traditions for the last 25 years. Experiencing a classically identifiable Kundalini experience in 1997, his path eventually led to Tiruvannamalai, India, where he has studied with the same teacher since 2001. Here, he began learning (and eventually teaching) a variety of breathing (pranayama) and mantra-based meditation techniques. His exposure to many esoteric practices opened him to insights around the great Eastern traditions on the death and dying process. Bryan completed an End of Life Doula certification training with the goal of integrating eastern understandings of death with the growing Western end of life care and the death with dignity movement. Bryan is a professor at NYC’s Parsons School of Design and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where he teaches painting, mask making and design methodologies. He maintains an active studio art practice.

Images: Bolivian diablo masks, 1) Welcome Collection, 2) photo by Joanna Ebenstein