Day: December 16, 2024

My mask was hidden beneath the earth for thousands of years. The sole purpose of the mask was to cover a creature’s face. But the creature wasn’t from land, but sea. The indigenous speculated the creature to be the owner of the seas, apparently spotted many times by fishermen . This gave it the name Fish’s Bait, indicating the creature died due to a large group of unknown species from the sea. The roots indicate growth, as this mythical creature is believed to have summoned multiple different unknown species only the indigenous ancestors saw. The spirals support the roots, meaning that a larger more powerful creature was in charge. The fish indicates the Marine life this creature was in charge of.

 What fish would you put for your mask?

Fun Fact: A Devils Hole pupfish is the rarest in the world!

For this mission, I chose to make the mask a face mask, which will only cover the mouth of the owner. This mask is a made-up mask and has no historical background whatsoever, however, the Mask does contain 3 species, a spear and a slug. The mask is to indicate the diverse ecosystem of the wide ocean, showing a stingray, sea turtle and a fish. The mask isn’t solely dedicated to a single fish, but each symbol does have a reason.

The stingray indicates strength, a human and species necessity to fight off any threats.

The turtle symbolizes our shelters and fish habitats, which is supposed to mean that it’s difficult to leave your loved ones and home behind.

Spear symbolizes the strategies of species, each specie has their own survival strategies to escape, hide or fight any predator.

The fish shows the diverse cultures and way of life of humans and other animals, showing difference in all species.

The slug indicates parasites, not just parasitic insects, but other ‘parasite’ individuals which cause harm to the people of Aotearoa and beyond.

Apologies if the symbols didn’t make a lot of sense.