Olmec Mask: A Mesoamerican Jade Artwork - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has kept the Olmec mask made in the 10th -6th century. The Mesoamerican Olmec stone sculpture has an esthetic appeal projected by the sculpture color, design and stone used. The mask is made of a carved hard semiprecious jadeite, with the dimensions a bit smaller than the average size of a human face. Owned by the Olmec peoples of southern Mexico, this Jade stone-sculpture encompasses a variety of formal elements of an artwork. The artistic sculpture is less of a face mask due to dimensions and lack of holes for eyes, nose, and mouth, giving an element of mystery the artist the mask portray. This paper seeks to analyze the artist nature of the mask basing on formal elements, the essay will evaluate the mysterious design used to make the sculpture that include color , material , lines , shape ,texture among other principles of Art and Design.

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The sculpture is laden with curved lines ranging from the outline to the inner face. These lines also come in the form of contours on the face of the sculpture. The lines include; nose, lips, eyes, and chin. Contours on the Olmec show the qualities lying within the normal human face. These lines express feelings; the symmetrical lips express the toothless gums of a toddler and the highly valued corn in Mexico.

The sculpture is shaped as ahead of a person represent the human aspect within it. The height and the width of the sculpture differ with that of a normal face making it more synthetic. Olmec sculpture imitates the organic shape and form of the human face with all its components, namely the eyes, nose, and mouth. This irregular artistic shape represents a human face.

The color of the sculpture is of monochromatic green hue, dark valued, and dull intensity. The color of the sculpture can be described as falling on the spectrum of coolness. The color manages to create a mood and a sense of mystery, the intensity of the dull color creates a sedate calmness a sense of seriousness from it.

The variant lighting for the Olmec attributes to its age as well as the integrated art within it. The lighting has been likened to that of a human face extensively with seemingly a relatively uniform color distribution. The shadows are dependent on the contours and the illumination of the sculpture. The essence of lighting on the Olmec is to complement the outcome and feeling of reality.

Olmec's texture is dependent on the physical touching. The semiprecious jadeite's texture feels smooth through sensory of the touch. The surface of the Olmec represents the smoothness of the human face. However, some contours and marks simulate slight roughness that represents the flaws of a human being and their binding to it. The texture is dependent on the material but independently a spark of feelings. The actual texture lies in touching, while the visual texture ingrains in marks on the Olmec.

Space is three-dimensional. The Olmec has its own three dimensions of height, width, and depth. However, the space element of art is more into a depth that incorporates the aspect of space. The positive space of the Olmec lies in itself and has insignificant negative space. The three-dimensional space for this sculpture falls in place perfectly due to its nature, although fairly irregular, it's a three-dimensional space.

Mainly composition implies the medium and the ingredients making the piece of art. For the Olmec, the medium is a semiprecious Jadeite that has a significant representation in Mexico. The composition is an all-inclusive aspect that includes other formal elements of art. The composition is not only dependent on the material; rather, it blends all aspects and makes the artwork a unique design. The composition of the Olmec is mainly the physical ingredient and the meaning attached to the face sculpture.

The material being a semiprecious stone represents the value and justifies the reason for it choice. Firstly, the material is durable and can last for a long time, as the Olmec has. Secondly, the material has significance to the ancient Mexican people justifying its use. Lastly, the material can be carved, making it good for a sculpture, thereby justifying why the Mexicans opted for it over all other materials.

Olmec's fabrication is still halfway mystical, the archeologists have drawn a logical conclusion to its meaning but not conclusively. The sculpture had no eye, nose, or mouth holes but was made in the form of a human mask. Such a shape leaves a room open for any interpretation and could have been a mummy bundle since the idea of a mask is not as convincing. The material may have had cultural importance and possibly maybe a costume element.

The elements of the art create a visual understanding of what the Olmec is all about. The description and the justification of the Olmec being a human mask are still not as convincing due to the lack of basic physical aspects, making a mask. However, with the analysis and description, it is undoubtedly prudent to label the Olmec a fine piece of art due to its physical aspects and its dating.