From the film "The Mask" to "Phantom of the Opera," to the popularity of Halloween, masks persist as a cultural element. They've been around thousands of years, used in primitive and advanced civilizations alike.Masks maintain their appeal because "people are fascinated by the face, and by the power of it. Masks are not just an entity of the past. They exist today -- there is always a need to express our primitive side," says Dolph Gotelli, a UC Davis design professor. "When people are masked, they have the ability to be someone else. Masks are a form of play and fantasy."Gotelli, curator of the UC Davis Design Gallery, organizes the gallery's biennial Face the Nation international mask competition and exhibition. The juried show of 57 masks from U.S. and Canadian artists is open through Friday, May 16, in the UC Davis Design Gallery in 145 Walker Hall.Made of wood, dried watermelon, cigarette butts, peacock feathers and leather, to name only a few of the materials, the masks exhibit styles ranging from whimsical to haunting. The masks are an art form, Gotelli says, that practically anyone can appreciate. "Even people who don't like painting or sculpture can like a mask. They can relate to them -- you can project yourself into these images on a basic human level."