By Michael O’Sullivan
Friday, August 17, 2012

A radiation mask can be a scary thing. The featureless plastic face covering, which is used to immobilize the head of a patient receiving radiation treatment from the neck up, by itself looks like a prop from a horror film, as if its true purpose didn’t already inspire fear.

So it’s kind of remarkable what some artists manage to do with the shells, which for the second year are being used as raw material for a sculpture show intended to raise money for needy cancer patients. On Monday, “Courage Unmasked 2” goes on view in the rotunda of the Katzen Arts Center, featuring more than 50 works incorporating radiation masks. The results are often beautiful. Sales of the art, which will be auctioned at a Sept. 12 gala, benefit the nonprofit group 911 4 HNC (shorthand for “help for head and neck cancer”).