I spent the summer of 2023 (in between my first and second years as a graduate student at NYU’s Kevorkian Center) carrying out the practice-led portion of my project.
My main goal for the summer was to complete the practice-led creative portion, which involves the creation of four vejigante costume/mask looks which I will then photograph myself wearing, culminating in a series of self-portraits overlaid with aljamiado writing. I wanted to make sure I spent the summer working on the masks and costumes, so that I could focus on just writing my thesis over the academic year. I mostly obtained this goal, as I was able to complete most of the four costumes and papier-mâché masks. The sewing and mask-making process has taken longer than I anticipated, particularly because I was called for jury duty in June, and I was chosen as a juror to serve on a four week-long criminal trial. I had hoped to complete all the looks and then rent a studio to take the photographs during the summer, but it looks like the photography portion will have to be done during the Fall. I am still quite happy with my progress, however, since I have completed about 90 percent of the costumes, and I consider this the most painstaking part of my project. I even had a bit of help painting the vejigante masks from my three-year-old son 🙂
Materials for the costumes include fabrics made from matka silk, organic cotton, and other natural fibers, which I purchased from boutique fabric shops. I decorated the costumes with sequins, beads, shells, metallic thread, gemstones, and hotfix crystals. To ensure a responsible practice, I avoid non-sustainable synthetic textiles and mega corporations as much as possible. After completing the costumes, I also brought all my discarded fabric scraps to FABSCRAP Brooklyn Warehouse to be recycled.
The papier-mâché masks were made out of recycled cardboard, paper, masking tape, foil, and a flour-based glue I mixed myself (literally just flour, water, salt, and a drop of peppermint extract), then painted with acrylic paint and decorated with sequins, beads, rhinestones, and puffy paint. I also used raw black wool for the ponytail on the blue and red Guabancex-inspired mask.
Constructing and sewing the costumes:
Making the papier-mâché masks out of recycled cardboard, paper, masking tap, foil, and a flour-based glue I mixed myself:
