Originally recovered from the collapsed entrance of an ancient pilgrimage route known as the Ember Gates, a passage believed to have guided refugees to safety during times of war.
According to surviving records, the Watcher stood at the threshold and consumed the names of those who entered beneath its watch. It was said that should any bearer of such a name later bring harm to the innocent, judgement would eventually find them.
In the centuries that followed, smaller likenesses of the Watcher began appearing above doorways throughout nearby settlements. These imitations were believed to ward against strangers with malicious intent and offer protection to those dwelling within.
Whether the original face was carved in the likeness of a real being remains a matter of debate. Fragmentary texts recovered from the region speak of an ancient figure said to have first raised the Gates, a tall and enigmatic presence, neither benevolent nor cruel, but unwaveringly just.
The stories describe a guide who led the innocent to safety and cast out the guilty. No evidence of such a being has ever been found.
Yet the tales persist.
Inspired by my fascination of ancient stories and cultures and the secrets they kept. Whilst designing these I had in mind a civilisation thousands of years in the future recreating what they thought to believe these ancient humans might have looked like, an idea built from physical artwork and stories left behind from what to them, was deeply ancient cultures.
These masks are sculpted in Zbrush, printed, sanded and hand painted then mounted on a decorated wooden block protected with danish oil. The mask is varnished to last and made to be hung high as if to look down.
Originally recovered from the collapsed entrance of an ancient pilgrimage route known as the Ember Gates, a passage believed to have guided refugees to safety during times of war.
According to surviving records, the Watcher stood at the threshold and consumed the names of those who entered beneath its watch. It was said that should any bearer of such a name later bring harm to the innocent, judgement would eventually find them.
In the centuries that followed, smaller likenesses of the Watcher began appearing above doorways throughout nearby settlements. These imitations were believed to ward against strangers with malicious intent and offer protection to those dwelling within.
Whether the original face was carved in the likeness of a real being remains a matter of debate. Fragmentary texts recovered from the region speak of an ancient figure said to have first raised the Gates, a tall and enigmatic presence, neither benevolent nor cruel, but unwaveringly just.
The stories describe a guide who led the innocent to safety and cast out the guilty. No evidence of such a being has ever been found.
Yet the tales persist.
Inspired by my fascination of ancient stories and cultures and the secrets they kept. Whilst designing these I had in mind a civilisation thousands of years in the future recreating what they thought to believe these ancient humans might have looked like, an idea built from physical artwork and stories left behind from what to them, was deeply ancient cultures.
These masks are sculpted in Zbrush, printed, sanded and hand painted then mounted on a decorated wooden block protected with danish oil. The mask is varnished to last and made to be hung high as if to look down.
