The Man in the Metal Mask

Columbus artist Elijah Secrest has amassed more than a million online fans for his weird and wonderful metalworks, and it’s not hard to see why

By Jim Fischer / Photos by Leonardo Carrizo / Story Design by Atlas Biro

In his Franklinton studio–surrounded by tools and machines, finished pieces, prototypes, boxes of raw materials, scrap metal, relics and other sundries–and wearing his handlebar mustache and Van Dyke, Elijah Secrest could come off as some twisted-genius steampunk antagonist.

Except that the metal artist/jewelry maker’s smile was warm and engaging, his space compelling and non-threatening and not once did he imply his enemies will rue the day they failed to listen to him.

The Columbus artist, who makes and sells wearable and functional art as Aerarius Metalworks, uses copper, bronze, brass, silver and other materials to craft rings, earrings and pendants, as well as less-traditional pieces such as scorpion rings that move with your finger and a fitted hand claw.

Elijah Secrest inside is Franklinton Studio Space

The most eye-catching of his creations, though, are likely Secrest’s masks. Done on commissions (and requiring customers are present for a lengthy studio sessions to make sure each piece conforms to each individual’s face), he’s created masks with a flare of golden segments and wire, in addition to a piece with an attenuated mouth section that opens into a stand of spikey projections.

Each piece is completely fabricated by Secrest, whether cast (from a mold created by the artist) or assembled. Nothing, he said, in his collection is 3D-printed.

“The pieces, whichever they are, are meant to be used,” Secrest said.

Elijah Secrest in his Franklinton Studio Space

And while form and function are important considerations, according to Secrest, each piece remains a handcrafted work of art with as much depth and meaning as anything that hangs in a gallery – He’s just not going to bother you with what that meaning is.

“You can dump all the meaning into a piece that you want but you can’t control how people are going to react to it or what meaning they might give something they buy,” Secrest said. “My practice is to develop a piece that’s beautiful – or ugly –and let people infer whatever meaning on it they choose. I don’t want to make a piece that requires reading to understand.”

However they’re interpreted, it’s clear people from all over the world are into Secrest’s creations. By early spring 2023, he had amassed 1.2 million TikTok followers, off the backs of atmospheric and eye-catching videos featuring his masks, claws and more.

Secrest got an early start in the art world, basically growing up in the longstanding, and since-closed, PM Gallery in the Short North, which was run by his parents, Maria Galloway and the late Michael Secrest.

“I was raised in the gallery, and mom would give me stuff to work on in the back, usually a hot glue gun and popsicles sticks,” Elijah Secrest recalled. “There was a patch of carpet that was coated with hot glue.”

Elijah Secrest holding a custom wire mask

In high school, Secrest enrolled in the welding program, eventually getting placed in a job at the age of 16. Among his public works made during this time are the spiked tops of the metal fences in the residential area along Gay Street downtown between 4th and Cleveland avenues.

"Sometimes pieces come out a little weird, and I like that."

Already experienced with metals by the time he enrolled at CCAD, Secrest took courses in jewelry and other 3D fabrication, majoring in contemporary craft. During this time, he began selling his pieces to friends and friends of friends, and later via the web.

Secrest has used his Instagram and TikTok feeds (search Aearius Metalworks) to grow his online presence, while building up inventory on his website.

Elijah Secrest, in his Franklinton Studio Space

“Along with the practice and encouragement that came from being raised by artists, I also had the understanding that a career in the arts was viable,” Secrest said.

Focusing on what he described as “antiquated practices and processes,” Secrest seeks to create pieces that look older than they are. That’s one of the benefits of hand-made items, he said.

“Sometimes pieces come out a little weird, and I like that,” he said.

The view Elijah's work and learn more, visit aerariusmetals.com