Louise Wilde
Mask Boy, 2018
Animated etching
Unframed: 36 x 36 cm
Framed: 42 x 42 x 5 cm
Framed: 42 x 42 x 5 cm
Edition of 50
Own Art
As low as 10 interest-free monthly payments of £25.00 and no deposit.
Sale price is for the unframed print only, it does not include the animation. Please enquire for framing options. Changing Ideas Award 'Mask Boy' began as a sequential study of...
Sale price is for the unframed print only, it does not include the animation. Please enquire for framing options.
Changing Ideas Award
"Mask Boy" began as a sequential study of an invented character but has evolved into a more autobiographical exploration. The figure reflects versions of myself at different ages — 7, 10, 14, 21 — tracing an ongoing negotiation with identity, visibility, and difference.
As a child, I felt most at ease in imagined worlds — drawing, watching World of Sport wrestling and The Incredible Hulk, and creating small narratives — rather than conforming to expectations of girlhood. That sense of being “out of place” persists in Mask Boy: a character who tries to remain anonymous while inevitably standing out. The mask functions as both shield and exposure.
The work engages with gender, sexuality, and neurodivergence, reflecting the experience of not fitting prescribed roles — of wanting to disappear while feeling hyper-visible. The character holds awkwardness, humour, and vulnerability, alongside a deeper unease: a fear of being misunderstood or “found out.”
The mask also acts as an alter ego — a controlling, sometimes destructive voice that encourages risk and self-sabotage. It enables the performance of identities that feel both liberating and destabilising, reflecting wider pressures around conformity and coping.
While rooted in personal experience — including dyslexia, dyspraxia, and questions of gender identity — "Mask Boy" extends beyond autobiography. It explores what it means to exist on the margins and to navigate a world that demands clarity where there is ambiguity.
Changing Ideas Award
"Mask Boy" began as a sequential study of an invented character but has evolved into a more autobiographical exploration. The figure reflects versions of myself at different ages — 7, 10, 14, 21 — tracing an ongoing negotiation with identity, visibility, and difference.
As a child, I felt most at ease in imagined worlds — drawing, watching World of Sport wrestling and The Incredible Hulk, and creating small narratives — rather than conforming to expectations of girlhood. That sense of being “out of place” persists in Mask Boy: a character who tries to remain anonymous while inevitably standing out. The mask functions as both shield and exposure.
The work engages with gender, sexuality, and neurodivergence, reflecting the experience of not fitting prescribed roles — of wanting to disappear while feeling hyper-visible. The character holds awkwardness, humour, and vulnerability, alongside a deeper unease: a fear of being misunderstood or “found out.”
The mask also acts as an alter ego — a controlling, sometimes destructive voice that encourages risk and self-sabotage. It enables the performance of identities that feel both liberating and destabilising, reflecting wider pressures around conformity and coping.
While rooted in personal experience — including dyslexia, dyspraxia, and questions of gender identity — "Mask Boy" extends beyond autobiography. It explores what it means to exist on the margins and to navigate a world that demands clarity where there is ambiguity.
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