DAMSELFRAU

March 17, 2021 Ninu Nina

Magnhild Kennedy, also known as Damselfrau, is a London-based Norwegian artist.

Today we interview the legend behind the masks, A self-taught maker of adorned, jeweled mask artworks, a creative space that doesn’t necessarily need to be defined, but is simply spectacular. Thank you so much for being with us today Magnhild, we are incredibly honoured.

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.

Tell us a bit about 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 for this year. I feel it's not right to push now. It's all a bit pressured. We are all mincing around on the line, waiting for the shot to go off. I'm waiting for time to come to me. I just make at leisure. Which means make a lot all the time, ha. But there's no plans.

How has this year changed your creativity or how you see the world changing 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.

Who do you consider to be an icon of our time?

Michaela Coel and Theaster Gates.