Show & Tell: Clancy's Art and Inspiration

Artist name: Clancy Philbrick

Artist statement: My work is interested in deconstructing patriarchal norms and visual symbols in mainstream culture that normalize the socialization of violence, hardness, and militarism in men and boys through sports and hypercapitalism. This work grows from my history as an athlete, coach, and fan as well as lived experiences of trauma and healing through sports related challenges with depression, injuries, a militarist ancestry, and my previous work as a mental health educator.

On a practical level, the monotonous work of cutting, stitching, or knotting is calming in its repetition, comforting, and relaxing.

On a deeper psychological level, the practice of collecting, deconstructing, and reassembling these cultural fetish objects with deep ties to my identity is healing as a personal method for processing trauma and reimagining positive futures.

These masks are reconstructed from used sporting goods and inspired by global histories of mask making: from collective healing rituals to military armor. I’m intrigued by a mask’s ability to tap into human psychological expression and the potentially revelatory search for the “real-self” hidden behind outward facing self-images and facades, and I’m particularly interested in their ability to suggest change and shapeshifting: offering new versions of “mask-ulinity”.

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