Koruru Gable Mask

An ancient style lost to the ages

What is a Koruru Mask?
• Koruru are architectural features on meeting houses or structures that
join the two front facing barge boards at the top apex. Its face is the
face of an ancestor.
Line
Line- how the points are moving
It has a lot of definitive, unbroken lines
winding around it, such as the spirals on
the designs and in the hollows of the
mouth and the circle of the eye carved
into the wood.
The line weight is pretty consistent, but
sometimes it thins and thickens in
certain places.
Sometimes the shadows' lines also get
diminished or heightened depending on
the angle of the light and the depth of
the carving.
Texture
It is a wood carving, grainy and not
smooth and slightly rough. This can be
depicted by adding in small dots of
shadow and light to certain general areas
to create the illusion of roughness and
depth.
Its texture is undulating with slight
bumps and dents.
Colour
Its colour is a desaturated terracotta,
with slight hints of blue and green in
certain areas, especially where the green
of the eyes reflects. It’s shadows are
mostly blacks fading into dark browns.
The highlights can be done with a light
peach shade. The shadows are pretty
definite with some blending out.
Shape
Its basic shape is a rectangle. This
rectangle can be further divided into
smaller shapes such as triangles for the
nose, curved lines and circles for the
eyes and the chine and forehead.
The shape seems like it has more
definition due to the fact that the subject
is 3D and the this can also be replicated
on a canvas.
Size
Size is the size of of different objects
there in respect to other things there.
It is a pretty big object, occupying quite
a big part of the frame, around ¾ of it.
This allows it to stand out from the
blackness, leading to a nice complement
of the colours to the stark black.
Pattern
Pattern is a a motif that’s being repeated.
The pattern it composes of is mainly
spirals and repeated triangular lines that
extend forward and get smaller and
smaller as it progresses. It also consists
of curved lines that branch out from one
single point. These look a bit like
wrinkles or something meant to
replicate the texture of skin to me. They
also could be a way of making the eyes
stand out.
Symmetry is also observed.
Form
Its basic form is 3D . It is a rectangle
with many other shapes on top of it.
It is a mask and a wood carving, so it could
be called a sculpture of sorts.
Movement
Movement is anything that makes the
subject look like its in motion.
The image does not have any movement
as of such, but I feel that the way the
lines move, the curves and spirals and
arches add a sense of movement in the
object, as if it does move, but is stuck in
a permanent state of static.
 
Composition
Composition is the way objects are arranged in
the piece.
To me, the focal point here is the eyes. They are a
different colour and stand out from the rest. The
lines surrounding them are also not the same
pattern that has been repeated throughout, They
break through the pattern and make the eyes pop
much more.
As you move down, you can see the gaping
mouth, and I feel that was a good choice because
as you look at the eyes of the sculpture, your eyes
go down the nose and to the mouth, which is a
adds top-to-bottom view. The small structure
sticking out in the middle of the mouth breaks
through the darkness of the mouth, giving it a
sense of 3D and making it pop a lot.