Masks and Armor projects from my grad students!

I haven't been sharing interviews for several days due to finals week and the end of the semester at UNC-Chapel Hill.

I admit, pivoting to teaching my class online was a big change and I don't have images of all of the students' projects to share like i would in the case of on-site presentations.

I did grab some of the photos they shared to social media and about halfway through the final presentations, I started taking pix of my screen during the Zoom session, so please enjoy these images of their work, albeit an incomplete collection.

 

Second year grad Lauren Woods created this pair of gauntlets modeled after those worn by the Nazgul in the Lord of the Rings films. The plates are microcell foam mounted on purchased work gloves. 

 

Lauren also made this padded fencer's gorget using a repurposed moving blanket! 

E

d

 

Second year grad Erin Rodgers also used a repurposed moving blanket to create this padded Indian helmet design, a replica of one in the collection of the Met.

 

Second year grad Ellen Cornette created this samurai armor, initially laser-cutting/-etching the leather at the campus makerspace. When campus closed for the pandemic, she hand-cut the rest at home and connected all the pieces with traditional chainmail techniques.

 

Ellen also created this hardened leather pauldron for her simple armor project. Ellen's was influence by a fantastical "dragon armor" design. 

First year grad Sherry Wu also created a similar articulated pauldron design using the same techniques, but I didn't get a photo of hers (black leather with gold borders).

 

First year grad Alex Hagman created this scaled pauldron using hundreds of shell buttons on a canvas base! Great example of using what you can get in the midst of supply chain difficulties and quarantine orders.

 

Lauren Woods had a busy semester due to the work it took to move her undergraduate costume construction course online, so she presented her complex mask at the final. This xenomorph was well worth the wait! Mounted on a bicycle helmet with a chicken wire frame, the head incorporates microcell foam, shiny vinyl fabric, Wonderflex PRO teeth in a Varaform jaw, and the shiny black face dome of a motorcycle helmet.

I wish I had images of everyone's projects but this is what I was able to scavenge.

Great work by all, great work by any standard but just amazingly well-done in light of the circumstances we're all dealing with due to COVID-19.