Songye or Luba People, Congo; “...maskers were emissaries of the ruling elite with command of esoteric secret knowledge visually encoded mnemonically in the mask’s features.”

Constructed from individual maple cubits, Klos' masks from his African welding mask series draw influence from the designs of West and Central African cultures, including those in Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Congo—regions to which Klos traces his own distant ancestry. These masks were traditionally used in a public, religious contexts, covering the individual identity of the wearer during performances of conjuration and spiritual activation. In the modern-day context of welding, masks are a necessary occupational safeguard, and an essential part of an industrial worker’s uniform. Klos’ sees his sculptures as hybrid creations, existing between and mediating the dual capacities of invocation and protection. He completes each mask by torching its wood exterior, allowing the flames to indiscriminately char the surface. Klos views this torching as transformational: fusing together these forms and histories, while activating and releasing the mask’s power beyond the hands of its creator.