Pwo (face mask)

She’ll tease you. She’ll unease you. She is the very embodiment of grace and charm.

This serene, show-stopping masterwork is the epitome of feminine beauty. The mask represents a beautiful young woman adorned with an elaborate hairdo.
Historically, pwo danced in honor of the founding female ancestor of a particular Chokwe family’s lineage. A male dancer, dressed like a woman in a costume of braided fiber, wears a loincloth, carries a fan, and moves in slow, precise steps to emulate a graceful young woman. Celebrating her beauty, pwo also extols the dignity and moral worth of a well-respected family.
In a work such as this, the artist, at the height of his particular powers, deploys aesthetics as a means of articulating a sort of moral philosophy. In the case of pwo, outward representations of physical beauty stand in as a signifier for an inner moral beauty as well.