Lesley: On behalf of Art Palette I am talking to Sherlee Rezansoff about her very striking clay masks. How did you come to work with masks, Sherlee?
Sherlee: I tried doing pottery and for me it wasn’t satisfying.
I played with the clay, I liked the feel of it and realized I could shape anything.
I have always been drawn to African masks when seeing pictures of them, never thinking I could produce them in clay.
When I shaped a mask, I felt the excitement of taking a lump of clay and seeing a face appear. I was drawn to the strong features.
Everything about the masks was so exaggerated – they can be ugly and still there is something distinctive and fascinating.
Once I got on to masks, there was no stopping me. I made something like 30 of them over a year, all coming out of me, one after another, like I was a factory!
I copied about three masks – I’d go to pictures and look but it was more of a refresher.
Ninety-five per cent of the masks I made were coming from my imagination. One had a third eye!
Lesley: So it was all a pretty intuitive
exploration on your part. It sounds exciting and satisfying.
Sherlee: Yes, it was. I got a kiln and fired my masks. I had no knowledge of glazing so I didn’t go there.
There was no education behind this. I started painting my masks with acrylics, but that seemed to add too much expression and took away from the strength of the masks, which was not what I wanted.
I wanted the simplest look, a focus on the features, the shape of the face, the large lips.
Then I found a heavy metal paint – it had the look of steel, gold and silver. And I painted my masks.
Lesley: And you had no instruction in any of this?
Sherlee: No. I think we expect a different kind of experience when we do something artistic – like there should be an instruction manual.
When it comes out like it did, you don’t know where to go with it. My “talent,” or whatever it is, has been a secret, even to me and when it’s acknowledged, it’s almost a little frightening.
This interview has really validated me somehow.
No one has acknowledged an interest, this is very surprising to me, never been an experience in my world.
Lesley: Thank you so much for doing this, Sherlee. I really appreciate your flowing descriptions, even though you were feeling self-conscious.
I would love to see your masks on display in a large open space that would do them justice.
Art Palette will take a summer break during July and August and return in the fall. Art Palette@hotmail.ca welcomes any submissions, comments, ideas and questions during the hiatus.