Kest Schwartzman
they/them
Adams, MA, USA
Kest Schwartzman has a degree in metalwork from Massachusetts College of Art, in Boston, MA. They have spent the last twenty odd years making, and finding homes for, wearable faces out of metal, and are still getting better.
“Most of the techniques I use in my masks are nothing new; I am sawing, piercing, chasing, raising, and sanding a great deal. I have patterns, but don't use them much, preferring to draw directly on the metal, tesselating a group of masks to fill an entire 2foot by 3foot sheet of copper before I ever start cutting. I know what each piece will look like, finished, by the time I finish drawing it out, and I do not like to leave them half finished, so i tend to work in great sprints, followed by long breaks to walk in the woods.”
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“My queerness may come out in subject, but not, I do not think, in materials."
"Baphomet", Copper, steel chain, shell bead "eyes", 18" x 13" x 10", 2022
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“This will vary per piece. In this case, Baphomet themself is a queer character, which makes this question much easier to answer than it might normally be. But, in general, I think that the decision to take one's inner face and show it to the world, through the selection of, and wearing of, a mask, to be an essentially queer act; such that, even if the making of one of my masks were not queer, wearing it would be."
