Some artists seek to turn a negative experience into something beautiful, but Nicholas DeRosa, a special-effects artist in the entertainment industry, was tasked with the exact opposite. "This was easily the most challenging piece I have ever been asked to make. The person who sent this to me had a very difficult battle with cancer involving surgery [and] radiation and it really cost him so much sorrow and loss. He wanted to destroy his mask and never see or think about it again, but randomly sent it to me instead — specifically wanting the darkness of his experience represented," DeRosa says. There were no other guidelines, although DeRosa still remembers how nerve-wracking it was to cut the plastic mask apart.
"It's a very heavy piece for me and I have it displayed proudly, even though it is not my story to tell," DeRosa says. "Even though he wanted the turmoil of everything represented, I still find it a very cathartic and beautiful release of sorrow." The final piece was made with canvas, various hardware, metal wire, jute, burlap, cotton, latex, acrylic teeth, spray paint, and acrylic paint. "After seeing what I came up with, [my friend] described this as, 'exactly how it felt wearing that thing,'" DeRosa wrote in a post about the mask.
