MIKE CHASE MASKS
FIELDS OF PRACTICE
Introduction
The mask is a bridge between the physical world and the imagination, a tool to transform us from a psychological state to an archetypal one. When we look into questions of identity, before long we come to the metaphor: mask. For the Greeks 'persona' means mask, the identity of human beings and gods. The mask is enigmatic, hiding our entirety, only letting a little out, the little that fits with the mask completes the picture, inner and outer.
However, when the mask is applied we require different sizes and styles, textures, and features for maximum effect. In our studio, we have been researching and developing the creation of masks for different applications, both for outside users and our own extensive use in these fields. We use different materials to realize this variety of styles, traditions, and functions.
Education
As a tool for learning [see Four Temperaments and all the workshops] the mask is a lens that hones attention into the area of learning. By embodying the ideas encapsulated in the mask, concepts become experience, thoughts can become action, and ideas a reality. The mask can become a tool for embodying complex ideas and enlivening the learning experience through the ‘ah hah’ that can arise through spontaneity and play.
Therapeutic application
In therapy and self-development
In Psychodrama, KarmaDrama, and Hero’s Journey the mask is a bridge between the inner and outer world, offering the user an opportunity to transform unconscious aspects of themselves by bringing them into consciousness. These could be masks representing yourself as hero, or inner demons, angles or allies, or personalities from past lives. They could represent the very content of your soul and inner life there for you to dialogue with, understand, and transform if necessary.
Coaching
The mask offers the chance to try something we know in a different way. In leadership training, masks are effective tools for developing managers. In honing presentation skills, and different management styles, or in change management and negotiating new paradigms, the mask has a role in supporting the leader in becoming more conscious of body language and unconscious attitude and having more choices in how to bring better outcomes.
Actor Training
The mask is a tool that focuses on what is essential. Whether it is used in performance, for enhancing character or bridging the living relationship between performer and audience and the removal of the fourth wall, the mask demands of us an authentic way of being in the present. With an open relationship with the audience, the mask demands discipline and spontaneity, conscious body language, and energy. The mask stretched between these polarities brings transformation and magic to the stage.