My research focuses on the face mask within the context of COVID-19, analysing the methods and results of its creation, exhibition, dissemination, and commodification. I approach the face mask as an intersectional entity that is simultaneously an ethnographic object, a visual symbol, a material thing, and an art object. Life-saving and controversial, the face mask has provided a canvas for personal, artistic, cultural, and political expression, and has served as the subject of critical anthropological and curatorial engagement, thus necessitating detailed ethnographic study.