MASK : Guan Yu

For those unfamiliar, Guan Yu was a Chinese general who served the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. Renowned for his martial skill and loyalty, later deified and worshipped as a god of war.

Depictions of him usually sit between battle mode and sage mode. I picked the latter, but with massive creative liberties.

The calligraphy (by artist Sim Li Wei) is my favourite Guan Yu quote:

玉可碎而不可改其白
竹可焚而不可毀其節
身雖殞，
名可垂於竹帛也。

Jade can be shattered, but its purity cannot be changed. Bamboo can be burned, but its integrity cannot be destroyed. Though the body may perish, the name lives on in the annals of history.

💎

3 editions. A2 Giclée on ILFORD 270gsm silk.