Masks Project

The mask project goes back to two observations connected to the pandemic and one History Extra podcast with historian Max Adams.

Observation 1: Moaning about having to stay at home except for essential errands is universal and deafening. Psychologists are interviewed about the impact of the lacking physical contact. Tons of activities are offered to lessen the burden. – Throughout history and even today in large swats of the population women have been and are confined to their homes and they are excluded from public life.

Observation 2: Recommendations are issued, or regulations, that demand face covering. I’m old enough to remember that until a couple of months ago the issue of face covering had been very contested. In their vast majority it was men who screamed bloody murder and issued laws outlawing facial covers because they interrupted und undermined society; another attempt to regulate what women could and could not wear.

What changed? In both cases men suddenly were affected – and to make it even more clear white men of means. They can’t flock to their golf courses, private beaches, and private clubs anymore, can’t show their wealth and power to anyone, and they belong to the group of those especially endangered. This Y chromosome they cherish so much, biologically speaking it’s a liability.

This pandemic like nothing else discloses the way women are oppressed by men. What is good for the goose just isn’t good enough for the gander.

While I pondered these thoughts, I happened on a History Extra podcast about Max Adams’ book Unquiet Women: From the Dusk of the Roman Empire to the Dawn of Enlightenment. In it he spoke about the difficulty of finding women in history. Because they were confined to their homes and blurred out of the picture by throwing clothes like tarps over them and excluded them from public life. But throughout history there was one thing that stood testament for their existence – textiles. From the sails without which the Viking ships wouldn’t have traveled to the clothes of the most revered emperors – women had created them. They are our story.

And thus this project was born. The idea influenced every aspect of it. The masks you see here are made from my grandmother’s stack of good tablecloths which I inherited after her death. I sewed them by hand one tiny stitch at the time – an activity deemed suitable for a woman. As is embroidery. So, the designs have the feel of embroidery even though I painted them. And I used ribbons for ties as mentioned in Jane Austen novels as something girls and women loved to shop for.

But the designs themselves are anything but meek and subservient. Because what the epidemic really shows is the weakness of men. We are the sail, catch the wind and set the course. We are the king’s clothes that give him his position and power. Without us no one gets anywhere. To the strong women behind the masks. May we know them. May we raise them. May we be them.

Now selling! If you want a unique, hand-embroidered, and wearable since washable mask with a pocket for a filter in the spirit of this project please visit my Etsy shop.