Goalie masks like you’ve never seen them before

Hockey goalie masks offer valuable protection while often portraying a very personal perspective of the players behind them.

The metaphorical masks people wear every day can also offer a form of protection and confidence while perhaps also creating a sense of ‘other’, or even hide something.

These are the questions and conversations Okanagan artist Rylan Broadbent is happy to encourage with his exhibition: "Behind My Mask, I Am Secure", which is underway at The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna.

“I wanted to engage with something personal to me,” Broadbent told Kelowna 10, surrounded by the seven ceramic masks on display, all based on ones he’s worn on the ice. He describes himself as a ‘very average’ recreational goalie who picked up the sport in his late twenties.

“I really took to the feeling of being in the equipment. The first time I put it on I was sold, I was like, ‘this feeling I like, I like being armoured up and going into this battle of sorts,’” he explained.

“That’s what I was responding to, that’s my access to this object.”

But while Broadbent explained objects can serve a utilitarian purpose, (some of the clay masks have been turned into a tea pot or candle holder), they also operate on a more symbolic level.

“For me the way I relate to this mask, I know what it means to me, but then as you zoom out a bit you start to ask: ‘what do masks mean to you?’ he said. “That’s the beauty of an exhibition like this, you start with a singular object and then you’re able to spawn conversations that move beyond it.”

The exhibition runs at the Project Gallery until March 11.