Michael Sailstorfer’s masks made of aluminum, bronze, gold, or iron are characterized by reduced stylistic features. Because of their primitive seeming expression they recall on the one hand the cult masks of primitive people and on the other hand, the objects reveal the process of their contemporary production. Sailstorfer’s sculptures play with the symbolism of the earliest masks, such as the exorcism of spirits, protection from demons or the ancestor cult. The models of the masks were first constructed out of cardboard, then casted in a sand-casting process in the relevant metal (aluminum, bronze, gold, or iron). With this process, all the formal textures and properties of the cardboard are maintained in the mold and further will be eternalized in cast. Hence, the ephemeral characteristics of the cardboard model, like cracks, buckles and ripped parts as well as the stripes of tape, remain visible in the final sculpture and eventually present themselves as fixed and steadily transformed models. Through the different patinas and finishes of the masks, different textures emerge and further emphasize the unique process of each individual mask construction, from cardboard to metal.