queerphoria: OTHERNESS & OURSELVES
Ornament Magazine Volume 43 No. 3
By Ashley Callahan
When SULO BEE heard J Taran Diamond share the story of how they became a metalsmith, tears flowed. Diamond explained, in an online panel discussion, that seeing BEE’s work years ago helped motivate them to change their academic focus from “just another STEM degree” to pursuing art and working with metal, “because it was the first time I’d seen a person who was very visibly queer and very visibly not a part of the normative culture being taken very seriously and respected, and I think that really changed my understanding of what was possible for myself.” The revelation of this connection came about shortly after the opening of “[queerphoria]”, a virtual exhibition featuring the work of twenty queer metalsmiths, including Diamond. The exhibition is curated by BEE and Tracey Carswell, co-founders, along with Sol Diaz, of Queer Metalsmiths, a new community that “honors, centers, and uplifts 2SLGBTQIA+ jewelers and metalsmiths.”
“[queerphoria]” follows on the heels of “{Queer} + {Metals}”, a project that included an exhibition in early 2022 during the Ferrous Festival in Hereford, England, and a digital residency at Craftspace in Birmingham, England, by Rebekah Frank, a metalsmith based in San Francisco. When Frank moderated the panel for “[queerphoria]” that included Diamond, she acknowledged that the term queer is “sticky,” and used in multiple ways—to describe politics, to describe identity, as a theoretical framework for art, as a slur—and that while it certainly is not the defining aspect of each artist’s life or work, it is an often unavoidable topic in contemporary culture. For “{Queer} + {Metals}”, Frank began with a survey of queer artists, asking them four open-ended questions about metalsmithing, queerness and other ways they identify themselves. In her related essay, she wrote, “The variety of responses, the diversity of intersectional identities that complicate any sense of the singularity of queerness, and the perspectives that shifted based on region, age, and sense of safety were big takeaways from this project... this project is a beginning, a promise of things to come.”
“[queerphoria]”, which opened during New York City Jewelry Week 2022, shares that sense of promise and similarly includes a series of questions to the artists: What does “queerphoria” mean to you? What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? What role does your studio practice play in your identity? When creating your work, do you consider the relationship your object has with the viewer? What is one thing you would like to share? The call for entries was open to all 2SLGBTQIA+ artists working with metal, and artists were allowed to submit applications anonymously. The online exhibition begins with an array of pictures of the artists against a bright, mottled background. Clicking “view” below each artist’s name takes visitors to their individual pages, all with a brief biography, artist’s statement, images of their work, and answers to the five questions. Their replies are engrossing, revealing, thoughtful, vulnerable, often charming, and sometimes painful. The emphasis is on the artists’ words more than on their work, but the format provides plenty of links for further explorations of what each creates.
Read more at Ornament magazine.
