AN ADAPTATION OF MAIDEN MASK FORMS FOR THE CREATION OF TOTEM POLE SCULPTURE

Abstract

Sculpture, over time, has evolved and through the period of its evolution sculptors have derived inspiration from diverse sources, Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani explored African masks for their paintings and sculptures, and this direction has influenced to a large extent the trend of contemporary sculpture. The problem of this research, therefore, was, that there is no known attempt at the adaptation of Enugu-Ngwo maiden mask forms for totem pole sculpture. The research aimed to create sculptures of totem poles, while the objectives were to; adapt Enugu- Ngwo maiden mask forms to create sculptural totem poles and recreate the aesthetic attributes of the Enugu-Ngwo maiden mask forms into totem pole models among others. Sculpture of totem poles and masks are both material cultures which when synergized resulted in an array of contemporary totem pole sculptures. In the course of this research, different media were explored and deployed. These ranged from concrete, fibre glass, and charcoal. The research method was the exploratory studio-based research methodology, which involved visualization and practical observation of the Enugu-Ngwo mask forms. The analysis and conceptualization of perceived forms laid the basis from which the studio projects were executed. Ten sculptures were created two of which are large and were created to achieve the physical presence of a totem pole, for purpose of this paper only three are presented. Several findings and observations were made in the process of this research, among which are; It has been shown that sculptural totem models can be produced by adapting Enugu-Ngwo maiden mask. It has also been shown that the exploration of the aesthetic attributes of the Enugu- Ngwo maiden mask manifests interesting patterns and symbols for creating totem pole models. As wellas there are other possibilities for adapting the mask forms into other forms of contemporary sculpture