Owl Mask c. 20th century

This is an Owl Mask by Beembe, and it's made of wood. When you look at it, you can see the tool marks, right? It makes you wonder what kind of tools they were using. The first thing I notice is the texture. The surface isn’t smooth, you can feel the presence of the hand, the mark of the maker. And the way they've used these ochre colours - that dark brown contrasting with the pale wood of the eyes - creates this incredible, unsettling gaze. I keep coming back to these eyes, peering out. They're not symmetrical, which gives the mask so much character. It’s almost like the mask is alive, like it’s seen things we can’t imagine. It reminds me of a Picasso sculpture, or maybe even some of the masks you see in Surrealist art. I think it’s interesting how art carries on a conversation across cultures and time.