The brief was to design and print a three colour, A4 screen printed mask inspired by Sri Lankan cultural masks. 

The theme of our subject is 'peace'. The name of our mask is ‘Peace Yaka’. The meaning of ‘yaka’ is demon in Sinhala.

It is widely believed that facial expressions for ‘peace’ should be ‘relaxed, calm and happy’ at the same time. We believe ‘peace’ expression can be best displayed in faces of persons who have undergone fear, terror and shock such as in war. We can identify a ‘peaceful’ face when we see relaxed eyebrows, calm, slightly opened eyes and a slight smile. Prominent examples are the faces of Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ, Lord Ganesh, Lord Vishnu and many other holy persons.

Our peace mask was influenced by the African tribal masks, the Aztec gods’ masks and the Sri Lankan devil masks. The specific features were inspired by a Sri Lankan mask titled ‘the Peacock Demon’ that brings peace, harmony, and prosperity. The shape of the mask is taken from Sri Lankan demon masks.

The other elements we have used are the pigeon of freedom, which is on the top of the mask with the wings spread out looking down on a blooming lotus. . The pigeon’s beak is a heart, which represents ‘Love’.  Along with this, the two flowers in full bloom on either side covering the ears and the eyebrows are ‘Aztec’ features. ‘African’ tribal features are the dots and lines below the eyes and the long tusks/teeth on either side with a broad smile complete the features of this peaceful demon.

The three colours used are light blue, dark blue and yellow to bring out the calmness of the face and to make it standout on a darker background.