September 2006

PORTLAND ARTISTS' WORK IN FEATURE FILM

Warner Bros. Pictures remake of The Wicker Man opens on September 1st, and it features 150 masks that originated in Portland, OR.

Eight different animal mask designs were created by Monica Roxburgh and Richard Sears of mask and sculpture studio Goblin Art. Monica sculpted the mask designs for the film in clay, then Rick "vaccuformed" multiple copies with sheets of a strong thermoplastic material. Next, the pieces were trimmed out and made ready for painting and decorating. For the goat and ram masks, they also created lifelike horns from a synthetic material called neoprene.

Goblin Art's task was to create the basic mask forms and then ship them to the film's production facilities in Vancouver BC to be decorated by Wicker Man's Costume Department (led by Nancy Duggan and Ute Porath) and Props Department (led by Brent Lane).

Monica comments: "I look at the finished masks in the Wicker Man as a wonderful collaboration between Rick, myself, and some really talented artists in Canada. It was a privilege to work with them, and I hope this is only our first opportunity to collaborate in making art for feature film. I also think it is great to see masks from Portland on the big screen--it is time that people start learning that it is a vibrant center of maskmakers and mask art."

Monica has been making masks for more than ten years. In 1999 she moved to Portland, and in 2000 she and Rick set up the Goblin Art studio in North Portland. Since then they have sold over 1000 handmade masks through their website, (www.goblinart.com) and at galleries, stores and art markets in the Pacific Northwest and in New Orleans. This fall Monica will also be displaying several pieces in the Local 14 Art Show and Sale (www.local14.org) and Bonnie Kahn's Day of the Dead Mask Show (www.bonniekahngallery.com).