The base of my mask is made of wire and masking tape to hold the wire in place. I then wrapped the wire in tracing paper that had been soaked in a mix of water and gel medium. Once I wrapped the wires base and let the paper dry it was much more sturdy and I spray painted it to give it a pure white color.

I molded my mask into a circle shape to represent karma. Many people know the saying "what goes around comes around" which is referring to karma. The main idea behind karma is that if you do something that hurts someone else then in the future something or someone will come and hurt you as punishment for what you have done. Karma can also go to opposite route, if you do something nice for someone then someone will do something nice for you in the future as a reward for your good deed. The cycle of karma is similar to a circle because it goes around and around continuously and does not have a distinct end. This idea of never having a specific end is also why I chose to use a crystal ball and a clock as my props. Many people associate a crystal ball with being able to see the future, which relates to the very unpredictable timing of the process of karma. Unpredictable timing is also why I chose to include a clock because you never really know when your bad or good karma will come back to you. I originally thought of this idea because my family strongly believes in karma. As a child every time I did something wrong my mom would tell me that she didn't even have to punish me because my bad karma would come around and punish me in the end. She also raised me to believe that helping others would generate good karma. She told me that if I continued to perform good deeds I would be rewarded later in life for being a good person.

My inspiration for the circle shape came from a karma necklace that was gifted to me from my mom when I was 16. It is something that i wear very often and will always keep to someday pass down to my daughter. My mom wears the same necklace and has since bought many other karma theme jewelry to match it.

Another main source of inspiration came from a well known street artist in Europe who refers to themselves as Karma. They recreate the iconic recycling symbol and to represent the way karma circles back to you. Every work of art is someone doing a good deed with the little recycling sign incorporated into or next to the work.

https://mymodernmet.com/urban-street-art-karma-2/



The buddhist sign for karma (and buddhist beliefs in general) was also a main source of inspiration. Having a mother who engraved the idea and importance of karma into my brain I was very interested to learn about a religion that focuses on karma so much. Buddhist believe that every small action you take in life has repercussions, whether they be good or bad. Every move they make is well thought out and every possible consequence is considered as they believe that the bad karma you receive for bad deeds is being reincarnated into something weak in your after life. This specific symbol is called the eternal knot and it represents how everything in life is connected just as every action you make has repercussions.

http://thehealingsphere.blogspot.com/2010/07/karma-symbol-route-to-anonymous-karma.html