05/29/2026
For recent graduate , the driving force behind a piece isn’t how an audience will react to the final product, but the immersive act of creation itself. While viewers often associate Funk’s intricate kinetic masks with a distinct creature persona, the artist views them less preciously.
“People were like, ‘Oh, but aren't you, like, this cool wolf character whenever you're going up there?’ And it's like, no, I am me, but I am wearing that,” Funk explains.
Bringing these kinetic masks to life requires a lot of labor, but pushing their technical skills to the limit is exactly what Funk enjoys. In one experimental piece, they linked together some 400 spoons, altering traditional scale-mail techniques to accommodate the found culinary objects.
In another example, Funk uses electroplating and electroforming to coat organic specimens such as cicada shells and jewel beetle wings with a conductive layer before submerging them in a copper sulfate solution, gradually bringing out a beautiful patina.
Scouting the materials for these massive setups is an art form in itself, one that often involves tracking down industrial equipment from closed-down hospitals or braving the shallow depths of the internet.
“I, very dangerously, on Facebook Marketplace, went to a farm in the middle of nowhere,” Funk shares. “With a friend, as you always should, to buy a giant set of veneers. Fake teeth.”
Though Funk’s complex kinetic works are activated through intentional jaw movements and systems of balance, there is no mental blueprint guiding the engineering from the outset. Living with aphantasia, Funk approaches each structure as a process of discovery shaped by patience, experimentation and an instinctive urge to create.
“I’m always very happy when people like my work, but the part that I enjoy is the act of creation... I just love indulging in the urge of creating,” Funk says.
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