Familiar Faces

Seeing old friends after a long absence can be a strange experience, one that may take some getting used to. With people, there’s the emotional link on the part of both parties to consider, and often there’s a short period of awkwardness until that ol’ re-connection occurs. With things, it’s easier … all surface, and one-sided love. But, it’s still a kind of love and it’s what I felt when I saw tons of objéts on shelves in the garage, after Paul unloaded them from the dusty boxes they’d been in for approximately 3 years. I really felt like I was having a reunion with friends I hadn’t seen in years! Being different materials (wood, metal, papier maché, plastic, resin, etc.) their combined reaction to me was best described as subdued, but, for my part, I felt the same love-on-first-sight feelings I’d had when we’d first met.

Faces with character

Unlike when seeing old friends that’re people, though, there were no signs of aging, weight change or style to note — these guys all looked just the same. This meant the quirks I loved so long ago were still very much in evidence. Meet some old friends; from top, clockwise: a wide-eyed shriner in wood with mystical plastic jewel;  a very stern wooden mademoiselle with killer cheekbones;  a small red resin head whose features are formed by tiny naked ladies (there’s a metal erotically-etched skullcap on the reverse); a chalkware member of a barbershop quartet sees double; an golden-glazed beginner’s art class ceramic head stares blankly; a polychromed wooden saint head, with uneven glass eyes, looks bemused (an escapee from a saint-carving school in Mexico); and a small carved African head looks like an early prototype for the robot woman star of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Pretty colorful characters, you might say, but only until you see these guys …

Truly colorful characters

Taking it from the top: Mr. Scary Clown himself grins malevolently in psychedelic makeup, while beneath, in painted leather, a full-head Mexican mask flaunts mirrored eyes, a lolling tongue  and boars’ hair stubble. At his side, another Mexican mask — this time in polka dotted carved balsa wood — shows off his dental work while peering out from behind glassed-in sockets … lastly, a homemade ball toss game opens wide for players with obviously better nose aim. Pretty people, like pretty objects, are enjoyable to look at but strike me as boring after a short while. I much prefer the less-than-perfect, the odd, the one of a kind … in other words, I like my things to be like me!