Meet Björk’s Mask-Maker
Like all in Björk’s creative coterie, mask-maker James Merry (what a name!) works with the hand of a craftsman and the soul of an artist. For the British native — who splits his time between bustling New York and a remote cabin in Iceland, surrounded only by mossy outcroppings and fields of lavender — it’s all about quiet contemplation and profound transformation.
The latest fruit of their six-year collaboration, which began in the early stages of Björk’s Biophilia album, is among the most memorable: a hand-embroidered headpiece — in which she performed at the Governor’s Ball in New York — that covered large swaths of her face and head with splotchy lace and meandering Miró-like lines. Worn with an enormous winged dress by the Danish designer Nikoline Liv Andersen, green and black with flashes of yellow, she resembled an exotic butterfly, the kind that flits about her barren island paradise. And therein lies the common ground between the two: a respect for one’s roots and a passion for personal expression.
James Merry
James Merry
Images from James Merry’s Instagram
