The Mask
“The mask” Erika Masterson 2013
This image is from my series “Dream synergy” in 2013. It is a series of a personal awakening of who I thought I was through discovering my true self. I’m still a work in progress...
The thing we seek in this life is our identity. We look to find it in other people, in stuff, in pleasure, but we are still left empty.
I think that what I considered to be my identity turned out not to be my identity at all. I think we wear masks, a false self. We weren’t born this way, I became this way through life’s circumstances and struggles. It became a form of protection and hiding.
If I keep on my mask, I can only know who I am by physical sight, touch, taste, smell, accomplishments, thoughts, opinions and feelings. These are all things I can grasp, see or prove.
I believe my identity is beyond my 5 senses. In an unseen place deep within me. But to take it further, maybe my identity is not in me at all; its inside the one who lives inside of me. If I don’t ever know Jesus then I never know my real self. I will only know the false self, the lost self. If I truly see who God is, then I will see who I am. If I am shown who I truly am, I will see who he is. I believe my identity is “LOVE”.
Erika Masterson is a Fine Art Photographer, living her dream between two worlds, a lakeside cabin tucked in the Southern Appalachian mountains and a quiet beach town on Florida’s east coast.Erika and her husband Ed have 4 children and one granddaughter. Her children are often seen in her artistic works.
She received her degree in photography from the Southeastern Center for Photographic Studies in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1990. In 1999 opened her own commercial portrait business and has been working the past 20+ years in California and Florida.
In 2012 Erika expanded her Art including many exhibits and awards. Her most recent accolades; Solo Exhibition Soho Gallery New York; the Co-Jurors Choice award by Joyce Tenneson under the theme “The Intimate Portrait”; She was chosen as a Julia Margaret Cameron finalist for her series “A Message for my Daughter” and was selected as Black and White Magazine’s Portfolio Spotlight winner for her series Sara’s Sojourn.
Her quiet and soulful images have been published in numerous magazines such as Black and White Magazine 2014 & 2017, Victoria Magazine 2000 & 2016, Silvershotz Magazine, Shots Magazine, 5×5 Magazine, Bella Grace Magazine, Raine, Shadow & Light and In-Style Magazine. Erika recently has her images being sold around the world and on greeting cards with Palm Press and book covers. She has also self-published 4 books with her series of work.
