Yes, it’s time to start solidifying our ideas.
Masked figure engaged in a mirror. – Yes!
Being that the circus is an outward spectacle and all about performance and audience, it makes more sense to me as a reference to “reality”, even if it’s a distorted view of reality (though it doesn’t have to be distorted!). By the same token, the mirror is reflective, introspective; the character gazes into the mirror to find the true self, unaffected by the surrounding circus. It works either way though, and maybe that’s an added charm of the dual outcome.
As for fine-tuning the consensus, and how far to go, I’d say that we should agree on some must-have elements, general meaning, but details like color, position, etc. should remain a surprise. How about we each name a few things that must be included as part of the general image? The general setup we have pretty much already described, haven’t we?