S. Sanchez
they/them
Lubbock, TX, USA
S. Sanchez is a gender non-conforming Chicano Metalsmith and jewelry artist from Houston, TX, currently pursuing their MFA at Texas Tech University. Sanchez uses jewelry and adornment to reflect on identity and power.
“Using metals such as copper and silver I create ornamentation for queer bodies. I reclaim power for marginalized identities by continuing the tradition of adornment as decrees of status. Creating unconventional septum ornaments allows me to reflect of the contemporary practice of body modification as queer expression as well as the septum’s specific power of signaling LGBTQIA2+ identities. The act of creating adornment for queer bodies is my way of assigning extraordinary status and power to marginalized identities.”
"Binary Birds Septum Ornament", Brass, copper, silver, freshwater pearl, twig, 4" x 4.5" x .5", 2024
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“My choice of materials is directly informed by my queerness. In Precolombian Mesoamerican metallurgy, copper is the metal known for TRANSformation. TRANSformation is a constant in my practice. Copper's ability to TRANSform, be shaped, heated, and altered while maintaining resilience is why I find it impossible to ignore its significance in reflecting queer existence. I use the symbolic value of the copper to inform the function of the jewelry, specifically to adorn trans and queer bodies. My choice of materials informs their TRANSformation while secretly telling the tale of mine.
I also consider placement and practicality when creating work to reflect queerness. Piercing counterculture, piercing as self-affirmation, and unconventional adornment all represent queer identity to me. When worn publicly, my septum ornaments can produce a sense of danger, especially within the West Texas landscape. While the size placement out the wearer as queer, effectively endangering them, it also creates a feeling of power and status. By assigning power to the wearer of my dramatic septum ornaments, I can rewrite social hierarchy, even if only for a second."
"Twin(k): Twin(k) Moon Ornament", Copper brass, silver, 4" x 3.5" x .5", 2023
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“My work is queer because I as the maker am queer and because my subject matter revolves around adorning queer identities. Although my current body of work is made specifically to represent queer subject matter, I believe anything I create is imbued with a sense of queerness. Whether that sense is palpable or merely hidden in the makers hand, it will always persist within my artistic practice."
"Trifecta: Trifecta Ornament", Copper, silver, 3" x 6" x .3", 2023
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“My interest in jewelry/ adornment is tied to its enduring and perpetual existence within time and place.
I was privileged to be able to visit the Houston museums from a young age. Every year since gaining sentience I found myself being pulled to the displays of stolen ancient jewelry that once adorned the bodies of people in the past. Crowns, necklaces, rings, charms, and jewels, from places all around the world from different stamps in time, all gathered there. And I was lucky enough to observe it unchanging in time throughout my life. I remember positioning myself across from the encased adornment and lining up my reflection in the smudged museum glass to match with the jewelry object so that I could see how this cold and unused proclamation of power would sit upon my own body. At times I believe these moments of (literal) reflection with the power of adornment lead my studio practice today.
Knowing that for thousands of years humankind used fine jewelry and adornment as decrees of power lead me to investigate how to continue this practice, and who to assign power to."