Most of ZT Tosha’s artworks are illusions. A surface asks to be believed, and the structure behind it stays out of sight. In Monolith’s Mask the illusion is revealed.

A circular aperture is cut into the upper third of a dark field of crimson and black. Through it the vertical bar of the stretcher shows, the wood that holds the canvas up from behind. The cut is deliberate. The support becomes the monolith, and the painted surface becomes the mask.

The oil paint is built in layers and scored with fine incisions. The texture is felt without being heavy, closer to a worn wall than to thick impasto.

Through the opening the viewer sees the wall and the room, so the painting looks back at the place where it hangs.