DIY Workshop Series: Mask Party

︎ Paddy Leung
︎ Lead Artist Facilitator, Art Programs
︎ Toronto, ON
︎ May - June 2014

The Mask Party was the first of the four DIY workshop series that Paddy had produced and developed. Their mission was to make all events free to everyone and cultivate community and creativity through innovative art programs that are inclusive and accessible. Paddy began to raise funds through their haircut art fundraiser called Coupe de Coeur. This helped cover the cost for materials and venue to make it free to the public. In addition to the Mask Party event, Paddy collected all the masks to showcase them at 26 hosted by Nicole Collins & Micheal Davidson.

26| Mask Party - Curated by Paddy Leung

Art Show Statement

Paddy Leung is an art pixie.

Paddy joyfully blogs, tweets, Instagrams, and facebooks with a wide-ranging gang of friends and followers that include people of all ages (their GMAH features regularly in their posts) and from every background, artists, no-artists, dreamers, and tricksters.

Paddy invites their followers to meet them at a local coffee shop to drink and draw or to find them at the Art Gallery of Ontario on free Wednesday evenings to look at and discuss the offerings. In late May Paddy hosted a Mask Party in a downtown Toronto park, where everyone brought a mask they had made, cavorting with sparklers, dancing for the ubiquitous smartphones cameras and collapsing in a laughing heap, summer in the city. We present you the results at 26 on 4 Saturday afternoons in the month of June.

The masks tell a lot about Paddy and their community. Alternate identities (are they?) include dreamy cloud child, pop-music-inspired robotics, blind lacy cipher, Chinese dragon dancing parody, spooky fish-like, whimsical childhood teddy bear, ancient Greek chorus, mystical floral monochrome, angry Japanese sumo man, wicked fighting melonhead. Even the more conversational mask forms are covered in idiosyncratic, dense, and mystical drawings and patterns that demand attention.

Participant Artists & Designers: