Sarah Costello
She/Her
Falkirk, Scotland
“I am Sarah Costello, a 35 year old blacksmith and jeweller from Falkirk, Scotland. I have been a lifelong maker and I am a graduate of Hereford Art Colleges artist blacksmithing course.”
“As an artist I mostly focus on adorning the body and clothing in a quite aggressive style, with lots of influence from medieval arms and armour and punk fashion.
It may seem counter intuitive as a person with a lifelong anxiety disorder to cover one's self in large, loud, bright metal places and spikes, but controlling the narrative over how my body is seen by others puts the power in my hands and protects me in spirit, as well as in body.”
@daughterofmercurymetalworks
How does your work relate to the theme of restoration?
“Originally it was just supposed to be a bronze plaque for pride a few years ago but while working on it, it shattered. And, honestly, that kinda summed up my feelings on the matter of queerness: broken, detached, angry - and when the next year rolled around I looked at this shattered piece of metal and still felt just anger and sadness at the backslide of rights for trans people in the UK and the world.
It was the recent kick in the teeth from the Supreme Court and the ehrc that slapped me out of the shocked stupor and into the need for action. I've found my fight again and I refuse to let them have their way!
And suddenly the drive to finish this piece came to me. To hold this brittle heart together and stay strong in the face of hatred, still hurting, scarred, and not healed, but also not dead yet!
I took part in a topless protest outside of the scottish Parliament (against the supreme court ruling and ehrc guidance, legislating trans segregation) and being around those kickass trans women at the protest for inspired me with their strength. It was scary, strange, and difficult but it was also liberating and beautiful. This piece is dedicated to them and how they helped restore my strength, my faith, and my power.”
"Submission Fix Your Hearts" Daughter of Mercury
How does your creative practice allow you to restore (renew, return, reclaim, recover)?
“This piece is a mark for the restoration of my drive to fight! A literal restoration of a shattered art work and a metaphysical restoration of a broken heart, which gives me the title "Fix Your Hearts", with the second part of the phrase "or die" implied, as both a rallying cry to other trans and queer people to live, and as a warning to those who seek to hurt us.”
As a queer+, artist, what do you see can be, needs to be, or cannot be restored?
“As a queer artist I believe everything can be restored - we have been dragged down before and we have risen again and again. Not even the nazis could end us entirely. We will reclaim our place in society, we will restore goodness and progressiveness to the forefront of politics, and we will go further to revolutionise the world where it will never happen again!”
Photographs Courtesy of the Artist
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“The bronze is actually reclaimed from a cymbal that was at the end of its life, so even the first work before it shattered was a restoration. You can still see the lines from the cymbal's manufacture on the surface.
It's also quite fragile which I feel is poignant to the message of the work. Maybe this piece will take on another form one day, strong and fully healed...”