Masters of Intrigue
- maecrawford
- Aug 16
- 2 min read
I grew up in Lake Charles — a small city in the heel of the state, three hours west of New Orleans — and from my earliest memories I was captivated by the big city’s annual parade. Those magnificent masks, majestic mantles, and mesmerizing muumuus seemed to embody the height of style and intrigue, all woven into a medieval masquerade.
After high school, I moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where I studied Commedia dell’arte, an improvised form of street theater whose performers wore masks reminiscent of Mardi Gras — the lovers, the greedy old miser, and many more. The vision of it all was glorious. Yet I began to wonder: didn’t its power come from the costumes themselves? What if I recreated the masks and gowns but removed the performers?
In 2012, my father and I shared a booth at Festival International de Louisiane — a world-class cultural celebration held each spring in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. Founded in 1987, the festival has become the largest international music and arts event in the United States, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world. For five days, the streets come alive with dancers, musicians, and Francophone-inspired art.
My “Masters” series returned to me five years later, during a brief vacation in New York City. I went swing dancing and met a marvelous man who captured my heart — only to discover he was already engaged. The disappointment lingered, and when I returned to my canvas, I poured that ache into my work. I created paintings of Truffaldino and Smeraldina, embedding symbols of heartbreak: Truffaldino holds a heart with a woman’s face upon it, while Smeraldina bears a tear on her mask and clutches a broken yet stitched-up heart.
As for Smeraldina and Truffaldino? Life took an unexpected turn. I am now living with him in New York, and together we are married and raising our two-year-old.
Visit www.melissamaekors.com or email me at melissamae@melissamaekors.com
and let me know which paintings you want to hear about in my next eblast.
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