Ningyi Rui
Painted Skin
Class of: 2025
Major: Design and Technology BFA
Medium: Silk stocking, felt, jewelry
Faculty: Aviva Shulem
Prompt: In this project, students are tasked with developing a 3D "hybrid mask" inspired by elements of an ancient culture, principles of Beauty, and personal interpretation of its usage in the current time. Is this mask a metaphor for our state of mind? Our emotions? Our physical being? Etc. Think of: How can Beauty be an inspiration for art and design practice? How do the five senses influence one's interpretation of Beauty? How can Beauty affect one beyond the physical meaning of haptic? This Project aims to find new ways of defining our subjective understanding of the meaning of Beauty. Beauty can be experienced; Beauty can be emotional; Beauty can bring texture; Beauty can bring sexuality; beauty can be warmed & can add richness to life, etc. Personal perspective and life experience shape our perception of what we find inspiring and beautiful.
I choose “Painted Skin”, a classic story in Chinese strange novels, as the theme of this mask, because it fits the theme and discusses the meaning of beauty. “Painted Skin,” tells the story of a monster who lures men into eating their hearts by wearing the skin of a beautiful woman he painted for himself. In the mask design, I plan to use materials and colors similar to human skin to make a mask. In addition, wood strips are used to build a three-dimensional structure to show the skeleton of the human face, to show the movement state of human skin falling off.