MASKS BY ANBRY ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS
Interview by Alex Ness
August 24, 2025
In 2024 I visited the Crypticon convention as a sponsored guest of a retail vendor. As usual I got there before opening, and had my books arranged and ready. I went out on the parking and drop off entry place for fresh air and relaxation. In doing so, I met and chatted a muscular fellow who had said hey when I was finishing up my set up. He was very charismatic, and he was the sales expert for a vendor called Masks by Anbry and the artist who created the masks. The con is a horror con, but outside of their grisly, gloriously dark masks, here were two unique people, far from being horror.
These two fellows were quirky and funny, smart and themselves an attraction to their products. The one I met first, was not the creative voice, he was the spokesperson of sorts. That was Dan Washburn. The artist, the person I interview in this piece, Bryan Nelson was a bit more quiet, but also highly involved in the whirlwind of humanity gathering around their table and display. After the con I friended both Dan and Bryan, and have found in the year since that convention to be entertaining, funny, kind, and generous with compassion. Bryan is the sort, perhaps similar to myself early in my Facebook and Myspace... a shit stirrer, if you will.
I often like the vendor involved with creator interviews. But this is a chance for me to give PR and an introduction to others to this artist. With this therefore, I offer my interview with Bryan Nelson, aka Anbry...
Alex: Who are you, what are the life experiences, choices, and interests that led you to making the masks that you craft. Do you end up growing or developing an audience and consumers for the work?
Bryan: I'm a mental problem and I was labeled as having OCD...and I was diagnosed at a young age.(BTW look up the symptoms of OCD, they are much scarier that what you've been led to believe).
I used to try to kill myself nightly and my mom would take all my knives away, so I was a failure at that. I had one focus, which was to be a vocalist in a band to help others through my words, did that and was locally successful. I used to sign autographs as ANBRY.
Alex: Is it difficult or more about finding the perfect image in your head first? When making the masks do you consider the people who bought prior masks, or is it about a self or personal expression and a work of art?
Bryan: It's really about how I'm feeling at the time, I need to get back to being "sicker" with the masks, but I feel like I evolved from that....Leatherface was pretty basic, and I've made different versions of him.....and also gave the latest Leatherface a free skin masks two years ago, lol!
Alex: What are the movies and media that influence your designs/creatures? Do you worry about getting legal notices of copyright or trademark violations (rightly or wrongly) if you create a product that resembles a movie character too closely?
Bryan: Influences? Such a great question.... Jason was my first as a young kid...C.H.U.D. Was another, lol. I used to have recurring dreams of Jason killing me for years, once I started painting Jason masks they stopped, now I got shitty dreams, lol
Alex: In addition to creating your masks, do you work in other media, expressing your art in different formats? Are you doing them for self or public view?
Bryan: Doing them for "self"....I'm a hermit, so I needed something, and thankfully, my cuz, Porknutz, (Dan Washburn) found skin for me!
Alex: With no limits of expense, products and ingredients used, What would your perfect mask be and why? Where would you display your wares in public, or is all your work through the internet or postal system?
Bryan: The perfect mask for me would be something that makes me go "whoa"... It has only happened a few times, but yeah, I'm always trying to impress myself...or ANBRY. lol, I'm not about making money or promoting, that's why I have Porknutz, who is best seller a quiet weirdo could ask for!
FIND BRYAN's PAGES DEVOTED TO HIS CREATIVE WORKS:
Anbry on Facebook
Anbry
Anbry on Instagram
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