Devil mask

Carnival, Oruro, Bolivia

9.5 inches, painted plastered cloth

The devil mask captures the essence of the Oruro Carnival. The devil or Supay represents the Andean pre-conquest underworld figure that was lord of the hills and transmogrified by the Christians as the Devil.

This one is normal-face size and has a snake crawling through the nose instead of horns. Traditional in construction as well as style, it is made of cloth impregnated with a mixture of glue and plaster formed over a mold-- sort of like a cast made for a fractured body part.