Man of Many Faces

The face has fascinated artists throughout time and across cultures.  Ralph Lee, artistic director of the Mettawee River Theatre Company and founder of the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, has been focusing on faces over the course of his long career.  Among many other things, Lee is a mask-maker.  Here he is, guiding an actor donning one of his creations, the head of a ghoulish being, whose exaggerated, expressive features exemplify Lee's work.  In the undulating creases of eyelids, the flare of cavernous nostrils, bulging cheeks, or an impossibly wide mouth, Lee combines and condenses the expression of many different emotions, so effectively humanizing every face he crafts.