Polychrome Wooden Masks – The Faces of the Invisible

A Dream, A Vision

“I had a dream…” This is how the story accompanying M. Valoti‘s series, Polychrome Wooden Masks, begins. A dream in which the artist walks through a primordial forest, filled with whispers, rustling sounds, and mysterious presences—a place teeming with life. Then, suddenly, an eerie silence falls. A void, an overwhelming solitude.

At the edge of the forest, a trap is set. A vast net, cast by men, ensnares masks. The artist, like a fisherman, pulls the net and discovers these frozen faces, held captive in their bonds. One by one, he frees them, observes them, and names them: The One Who Was Hungry, The One Who Was Afraid, Guardian of the River… Each mask carries an identity, a silent story waiting to be told.

87 Masks, 87 Identities

This series of 87 oak wood masks, painted in acrylic between 2001 and 2002, is far more than a mere collection of sculpted objects. It is an ensemble of presences, a dialogue between humankind and the unseen, between myth and material.

The choice of oak wood, a noble and ancient material, roots these masks in an age-old tradition, while the polychrome painting lends them a striking expressive intensity. The colors vibrate, the shapes evoke totemic figures, ancient spirits, or forgotten faces.

Each mask seems to carry an emotion, a state of being: hunger, fear, vigilance, pain, wisdom… Though motionless, these sculpted faces appear imbued with an inner force, a silent breath that invites contemplation.

The Mask: Between Ritual and Contemporary Art

Throughout history, masks have played a central role in human civilization. They have served as ritual tools, symbols of power, incarnations of deities, or mythical figures—both hiding and revealing, concealing and amplifying the essence of the wearer.

In M. Valoti’s work, the mask is more than just a sculpted object. It becomes a bridge between worlds, a liminal space between the visible and the invisible, between the individual and the universal. These masks are not meant to be worn; they are meant to be seen, questioned, and reflected upon. They confront us with our own emotions, our own inner masks.

Who are they? And who are we through them?

Lifting the Trap, Freeing the Faces

In the artist’s dream, there was a trap—a net holding these masks, like captive souls. By freeing them, by naming them, he restores their essence, grants them an identity of their own.

This is what art does: it unveils what is hidden, gives a voice to what was silent, and creates a dialogue between past and present, between self and other.

With this series, M. Valoti invites us to question our own perception. What masks do we wear? What masks do we recognize in others? And once the net is lifted, once the silence dissipates… what remains?

📍 Discover M. Valoti’s fascinating universe and his series Polychrome Wooden Masks on Hub Artistry.