Face Off

You are invited to discover just how wild and varied Canadian identity can be.

Face Off is an astonishing collection of three-dimensional masks, hand-made by elementary school students to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Led by Xstine Cook and the artists of Calgary Animated Objects Society, Face Off invited over 300 participants to explore their identities as Canadians through an immersive process of introspection, reflection, family memory collection, and artistic creation. Sunalta School bravely undertook the challenge. Participants’ faces were cast with plaster bandages, with each unique form used as a base upon which students created their artistic masterpieces.

Face Off Canada was originally conceived by Xstine Cook & Peter Balkwill in response to an article in National Geographic about Melissa Walker’s therapeutic mask work with American veterans.