Aboriginal Australian Mask

I have always had a fascination with differing cultures since I have been to the Polynesian Culture Centre in Oahu, Hawaii.  I even have a family history of woodcarving and carpentry and I wanted to experience a style of art making that I have never done before.  After some research of the Aboriginal  Australian culture I really wanted to carve a mask.  I wasn't perfect to being exactly like the originals you would find in Australia but I am very pleased with the result since it was my first time woodcarving.
The wood I used was Canadian Cedar to be the opposite of the continent that the mask is referencing.  I really like to work with acrylic paint and I used it for the majority of the surface.  The remaining of the wood that I didn't paint, near the center of the face, was intentionally left so it could be stained to show the wood's natural grain and to draw the viewer's eye. The dots are similar to traditional masks and I utilized them to help the viewer look up and down the mask from the brow, through the nose to the chin.
The wings on the brow are meant to represent freedom of mind and imagination which speaks to me as an artist.  The colours I chose remind me of warm earth and my favourite season, fall.

Jaclyn