DAMSELFRAU
Kennedy
I make masks as autonomous works and as objects of action. For me, the mask is a place where different elements come together in a situation. The work is this place-situation — not masks as a theme, category or form. The mask is a place.
Magnhild Kennedy
Damselfrau.
A creative space that doesn't necessarily need to be defined — but is simply spectacular. A self-taught maker of adorned, jewelled mask artworks whose face we have never seen.
There's a peculiar thing happening on the Instagram account of London-based, Norwegian artist Magnhild Kennedy, a.k.a. Damselfrau: although most of the images are self-portraits, we never get to see her face. That's because Kennedy is wearing elaborately adorned, intricately beaded, bespoke masks that she handcrafts in her studio using materials ranging from antique silk and tassels to scruffy tea towels and raffia.
A self-taught artist who learnt sewing and beading techniques from books and YouTube, Kennedy is driven by a deep-rooted passion for playing with materials. Her focus on making rather than designing is what makes her masks exceptional — they defy critical exegesis. Blurring the lines between art, fashion and costume design, her work can be described as simultaneously baroque and post-apocalyptic, managing to unsettle and bewitch the viewer at the same time.
Your greatest inspirations or influences?
Materials. It all comes from materials. I'm not really inspired by anything related to masks per se. I'm interested in spaces. Rooms. How people live and the stuff they surround themselves with.
I'm also a very impatient person and I need to keep my eye busy every second — so anything over-informed will keep me interested. I like detail.
"I just rummage around and let the materials lead the way."
— Magnhild Kennedy / Damselfrau
Your creative process — and what you have planned for the rest of the year?
I collect materials. Stuff. Markets, eBay, vintage shops, pound shops. I have boxes and boxes and boxes. I just rummage around and let the materials lead the way.
I move forward, I'm in a bit of a rush. If something is done, finished, I just trot on. So it's hard to say anything I'm proud of. I suppose I'm very pleased that the work has managed to become autonomous. But that's really down to the work — and I have always felt that it is working remotely from me, so I can't really take the credit for that.
I have planned very little. I feel it's not right to push now. I'm waiting for time to come to me. I just make at leisure. Which means: make a lot all the time. Ha.
How has this year changed your creativity or how you see the world moving forward?
Honestly, this past vacuumey (is that a word?) year did not change much for me, work-wise. I work by my lonesome self in my home, and my clients are mostly remote from me — so I've just kept working. I'm aware that it's a very privileged situation.
The change of energy was palpable though. Time changed format for most people it seemed. We spoke about things. Things got personal fast. I enjoyed that.
