Mask

The only thing I don't like about this painting is the title. I'm simply calling it "Mask", which brings to mind the funny movie and it's ghastly unfunny sequel. But names aside, I like this painting.
This is the first time I've painted something that makes me uncomfortable when I look at it. My previous painting of the slaughterhouse was moody and dark, but this painting has something of menace in it. Maybe it's because people with masks are by nature an embodiment of the unknown. They become something more or less than human. They walk and move like people, but the blank face is a gaping hole of the unknown.
Or it could be they're just creepy.
In any case, this painting is from the virtual poster that appears in Pathologic. In the game, the character comes across a theater which plays an important part in the unfolding story. Each night a play is put on in the theater which captures the important events of the day. The decisions that the player made, or actions he failed to take, are acted out by two masked forms in a haunting performance. On the side of the theater is this poster which shows one of the masked people.
This image affected me greatly because at this point I didn't know what to make of the two masked characters in the game. They seem to be friendly and guides of a sort. But seeing one of them clumsily stomp through the red palms clustered around his feet is disturbing. I get the feeling of great power being thoughtless active regardless of the consequences around him.