Kest Schwartzman
they/them
Adams, MA, USA
Kest Schwartzman(they/them) lives and works in a warehouse in the woods. They enjoy trees, birds, hammers, tea, and, just occasionally, they also enjoy other people.
“My work is all one of a kind- hand drawn directly onto metal sheet, handcut with a jeweler's saw, sanded with a flexshaft, textured deliberately to fit the shapes of that individual piece, and then forged to shape with a small selection of hammers and mallets.”
"Threat Display", Raised from a single copper sheet, 20"x10"x10", 2021
How does your work relate to the theme transformation— How does the work translate joy into strength?
“My masks, in general, allow a person to transform themselves in a temporary way, as a sort of trial for a more permanent transformation or simply as a fluid, ever-changing self.
This one ("Threat Display"), additionally, related to the transformation of a small being who, when threatened, unfolds themselves into something scary. I'm thinking eyespots on a leafbug, but it can be whatever you want, really.
("Silver Fox") in particular was also transformed out of what may once have been an heirloom, which I found after it had been given up and left behind, and made it into something new.”
"Silver Fox", Cut and formed from an old silver-plated platter, 6"x6"x4", 2023