Interview 14: Cynthia, a Fabricator and Welder
Cynthia is a fabricator and welder and runs her own welding business, Hot Steel Welding, in Joshua Tree, CA
Arclight is a long-form interview series in which Women Who Weld, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that teaches women how to weld and find employment in the welding industry, showcases women who create, ideate, and collaborate across specializations and trades.
Cynthia Phillips is a fabricator and welder in Joshua Tree, California. She is the owner of Hot Steel Welding and has spent the majority of her career building sets for the entertainment industry in New York City and Los Angeles. Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University School of Art and Design. She is well-known on Instagram as @HotSteelWelding. Below is an edited and condensed interview between Samantha Farrugia, the founder of Women Who Weld, and Cynthia, a former Women Who Weld participant, in June 2022.
Where are you from?
Rockland County, New York. Fifteen miles north of Manhattan, in the Hudson Valley. I was born in Jersey and grew up in New York.
Why did you move to California?
Since I was little I had a fixation with California because it's so different from where I grew up. I love palm trees and New York is freezing cold. I started building sets in New York and I knew if I moved to LA, I could probably do that same type of work; so I figured I would take the leap and change my life and build sets in a different city.
Why did you move from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree?
I lived in LA for six years and I was always obsessed with the idea of living in the desert, because it’s so different from New York or LA. The art school I went to is in a very small town, so I knew I liked being in small towns. I decided once again to change my life and leave the set business. I wanted to do my own thing, but I couldn't afford to do my own thing in LA: rent a warehouse, or space to work, and a place to live. But the Joshua Tree area is way more affordable, you can get a lot of land. The house I rented had a gigantic garage/workshop that I could work out of and it just made sense. I hadn't done any of my own work for over 10 years, and I just wanted to change it up and I was sick of all the overtime. I've always been spontaneous so I just moved.
Do you ever miss living in Los Angeles?
I do sometimes. I missed doing the type of work I did there, so I’ve recently gone back and forth for big major jobs. And I'm lucky that the shop I worked in keeps calling me back. I also miss the weather; the desert is hot and it's very hot to weld in the summer. But I don't miss the traffic in LA, I don't miss commuting, I don't miss tons of people around all the time. I guess I just sometimes miss working in the big shops.
What led you to art school?
I went to art school for illustration. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with myself. My parents were set on me going to college. I was into art and I was like, “Alright, well, I’ll go to art school then.” During my sophomore year I was required to take a few classes that I had never done before, something out of my comfort zone, so I took glassblowing and metal fab. Glassblowing was awesome, I did it for a year, super fun, super hard, but I couldn't touch what I was doing and I wanted to be able to touch what I was doing. And then I fell in love with metal, and I dropped all my print and illustration courses and took an independent study with the metal fab teacher. And the rest is history!
Did you get a job in welding after graduating college?
Yes, and I’ve been welding for 17 years! I moved back to Rockland, and I started searching for artists who did sculpture. I found a guy who did high-quality metal sculpture and custom furniture in a warehouse. I knocked on his door and told him my story: that I went to art school, that I made my own sculptures, and I’m looking to somehow get my foot in the door in a welding shop. He took me on, I was apprenticing so I was learning. In return for the work I would do for him, I was given my own table and I could use any of the scrap material; I could build whatever I wanted. That's where I learned how to TIG weld. I worked there for three years, and I bartended at night to keep the funds coming in. Next door was a blacksmith, and I also worked with him and learned about all the tools he used, which are totally different than welding; it's just a different type of fabrication. Everyone was very welcoming.
On the second floor of the warehouse, there was a set shop and they did stuff for Broadway and smaller theaters in New York. They were really busy and they asked my boss if he could spare a couple of us from the shop to help with a job, so I started doing some work for them. From there I got a job at a union shop, building newsrooms in New York. We did the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. I worked there for two years, it was a great job. But then I moved to LA to build sets. I got a job instantly doing metal work and carpentry at a small set shop Downtown, building sets for theatres in Hollywood. Then I got a job at a larger shop; I had some troubles in that shop but I was there for about two years and left due to harassment. And then I got a job at ShowFX and everyone I worked with was amazing. I stayed there for over three years, and I'm currently working there now.
Also, in 2016, I kept in contact with the newsroom shop in New York, and they do the NBC Olympics: the coverage rooms where they interview the athletes. So I went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for three months to install for the Olympics. It had nothing to do with welding, I was a carpenter using lifts.
And in 2019, I moved to the desert, I wanted to start my own thing. I had kind of started Hot Steel before then, just making stickers. I always had this idea of the 60s Barbie logo with the silhouette and the ponytail and I always thought it'd be so cool if they just put a welding helmet on her, so that's where the design came from.
Tell me more about Hot Steel Welding.
I started Hot Steel just as a logo. I had never seen merch for women welders before and everything seemed generic. Every time I Googled something, it was always an image of a guy in a welding mask, or a skeleton, or something hard. I wanted to add a feminine touch to a welding design, so I started Hot Steel and an Instagram account.
When I moved to the desert I started making my own work for the first time in over 10 years. And Covid really helped with that because we were under lockdown, so all I did was build my own things. I built a giant UFO spaceship, the “Quarantine Machine.” That was the first big project I had done for myself.
But I also do basic jobs for people like building whatever they need for their home. I've done gates, I've done railings, I've fixed old furniture. I've done some custom pool cover motors, outdoor showers, stuff like that. But I also do my own artwork because I have ideas that I want to make. And I take commissions.
Have you ever worked with another female welder?
I’ve only worked with men, most of them were amazing and super accepting of me. I worked in one shop where they didn't understand why I was there. I started questioning why I was there, too. I was like, “What am I doing? Why am I putting myself through this?” But I love to build things and that's what kept me going.
There was one guy in particular who didn't like me at all, and he would spit at me when I walked by him and he would curse at me in Spanish and English. And then he got his buddies involved, they would all stare at me. He threatened to have his female cousin meet me after work to beat me up. It was ridiculous, and I was so confused.
He felt like I was trying to steal his job, because I was a TIG welder and he wasn't, and he somehow found out that I made more money than him so he started practicing TIG welding during lunchtime, trying to take my job from me. But I was already TIG welding aluminum, and I was good so he wasn't going to take my job.
I started telling people at work what was happening. The lady in the office told me that she couldn't do anything about the harassment, that I was a female and I should know it kind of comes along with the job. She told me the only way she would fire him would be if I wore a camera and recorded him doing it. I stayed for a little while longer because I was like, “You know what, screw that, I deserve to be here. I'm not leaving because of him. He's not going to do that to me.” And then one of the other supervisors in the shop, a lot older than me, developed some sort of crush on me but I wouldn't go out with him, so he tried to get me fired and that's when I left.
It was wacky and I felt completely defeated afterward, and I almost quit welding. I thought, “I'll find something else to do.” But I just loved it so much. And I did have some good people on my side who helped me and pointed me in the direction of better, more professional places to work.
I had a good friend who knew the trouble I was going through and invited me to go to EDC (Electronic Daisy Carnival) seven years ago to work at a shop in Vegas to build a sign for one of the stages. I worked in Vegas for a month, and then I got the job at ShowFX and I never had that problem again.
You attended a Women Who Weld workshop in Southern California in 2019. Was that your first time welding with other women?
It was, which is why I wanted to go so badly! And I saw that Andrea was going to be there, and I was like, “Oh my God, I want to meet other women welders!” So that was the first time, I was so nervous. It was so, so cool!
Things like the workshop keep me going. And that's why I’m so glad I started my Instagram account because I was super down and out, but seeing all these other women welding opened a whole new world. And I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that. Why did I wait so long?” I would always hide the fact that I welded because if I mentioned it, someone would think I was looking for attention or they would ask, “Why?”
And now you hold workshops in your shop in Joshua Tree?
Just before Covid, a few people reached out to me and asked me if I would teach them how to weld. And I was like, “Absolutely, I would love to teach you how to weld!” And then some people I know mentioned that a lot of people in the desert would find it useful to learn how to fix their fence or their gate or minor fixes around their property, so they don't have to hire someone. I started advertising workshops around town on bulletin boards and I got a lot of emails and phone calls from locals and tourists who were looking to do something different in the desert. Welding is popular here because it's a material that can withstand the elements; the desert is harsh and wood falls apart due to the sun and dryness, but metal is pretty strong.
I've held over 60 workshops. I thought I would only teach females for some reason, because I had my logo on it, super girly with the ponytail, but I got calls from all types of people! I’ve taught older men and children, too. A family found me on Etsy, they were in Joshua Tree on a family trip and asked if I would teach their five children an introductory course on how to weld. They were quadruplets, so I taught four 10-year-olds and one 12-year-old.
What’s your favorite part about instructing?
The joy people have after they weld for the first time; seeing people happy and doing something that they didn't think they could do. It's a scary skill and you need a lot of different tools and the space to do it in. I remember the first time I welded and I was terrified.
What are some notable projects you’ve worked on as a welder?
My first really big job in LA: I did the Grammys set for Daft Punk. I have no photos of it. I didn't take photos for years because I was so embarrassed of being a welder, and I was harassed and I didn't want to talk about it, or have memories from it, I guess. But I started taking photos when I started my Instagram account because I was like, “Wait, what I'm doing is cool!”
At ShowFX, we did the Beyonce Coachella stage. It was me and three other welders; it was all aluminum and we worked insane hours. And a lot of times, because I'm a good builder, I can read drawings and build things really fast, they'll have me build and then they'll have someone else weld because welding is sometimes mindless. You just weld what is already built. I would tack everything together then hand it off to someone who would weld it. But if it's slower, I’ll do all the welding because I enjoy it. I'll put on headphones and just weld. But most of the time I'm building.
I've done Disney floats for the Pixar Parade in Disneyland. I've done sets for Pitbull. We’ve done big jobs for casinos. We just did the summer garden at the Bellagio in Vegas. The stainless steel peacock chair for Beyonce’s tour. She ordered one for her tour, and she loved it so much that she asked ShowFX to build her two more as Christmas presents for her tour managers.
The Doja Cat project was the most recent, which was awesome. They actually pulled me off a job; I was building another set for Coachella and they were like, “Alright, Cynthia, we want you to do this cause you're the artistic-minded one.” There were no dimensions on the drawing, I just had to make it look like the drawing. They let me pick an assistant to help me, and we built the whole thing. It was really cool.
I've worked on really cool jobs, so many that I kind of forget because I’m pumping out work, working crazy hours, but those are the ones that really stand out. For the Doja Cat job, I worked from six in the morning till midnight, multiple days in one week, over 80 hours in total. And I had done like 60 hours in four days the week before. You always get stuff kind of late, and then they need it yesterday.
What happens to the stage sculptures you build?
I think Doja Cat bought it to take on tour. Same thing with Beyonce, I think she bought the stage and she kept it. And the following year it was set up at Coachella for people to take photos in front of. We made martini glass chairs for Pitbull, and I really wanted one; I asked the owner of the company if I could buy one. He was like, “Oh, no, Pitbull already bought them for his house.”
You occasionally promote welding-related products on your Instagram account. Are you sponsored by these companies or do you just like their products?
I'm never going to promote something on my page that I don't use or fully back. I've had people reach out and ask me to promote things, and I've had companies want to send me welders but I won't accept because I know I would feel fake promoting it. I’ve worn Tillman gloves my whole career and I've worn Black Stallion Angel Fire jackets; it’s the only jacket that fits me because I'm small. I can't wear a men’s small, it's huge, it's gigantic on me. Black Stallion is the only company that had something that fit me 15 years ago. I wear Keen boots, I love them. Dovetail clothes fit me, they're super nice, I love all the details they have like zippered pockets in the back. It’s nice that things are evolving, and companies are putting out more work clothes for women of all sizes.
I, along with some former Women Who Weld participants, are testing and providing feedback for Dovetail’s new flame-resistant pants!
Describe a typical day on the job?
It changes so much based on where I'm working. A typical day at ShowFX would be going in at six or seven in the morning, building all day, and maybe leaving at four or five or eight or ten o'clock at night. Which is fine, I get super into it, and it's exciting for me to do entertainment stuff because I know that a lot of people are going to see it and it brings them joy to see a cool set. It's worth overtime and the challenge.
If I'm just working for myself, out in the desert, a typical day would be going into my shop, turning on music, and building whatever I’m working on. I get really into my art projects, so I'll just zone out and I won't stop until I've figured out a solution to how I'm going to build something. If I'm doing a workshop, I'll typically work in the morning and do workshops in the afternoon, unless it's the summer then we start super early in the morning because it's really hot. But it changes day-to-day. This week I'm actually helping a friend on some Burning Man sculptures. And then next week I’ll probably go back to ShowFX. There's a big job they have, but I'm never allowed to talk about things until after they’re done.
Do you make the trip daily from Joshua Tree to Los Angeles when you’re working at ShowFX?
I'll stay in LA when I'm there. I'm not going to make that drive, it's too much and gas is like $7 gallon. Normally we work so much overtime that I basically just need a shower and a place to sleep.
Which process of welding do you primarily engage in?
Aluminum TIG. My supervisor jokes, “Your name’s not Hot Aluminum, it’s Hot Steel!” I’m like “Yeah, but Hot Aluminum does not sound as good!” I love steel though, and primarily I use steel in the desert because it's an easier material to work with on artistic jobs. But aluminum is used a lot in the sets because it's super light. I just love the process of it. I love the way it looks. Steel is really dirty and greasy and I'm always filthy afterwards. But if I'm welding aluminum, I go home clean.
Which materials have you welded on?
Steel, aluminum, stainless steel, and bronze.
How old are you?
36.
What are your future career aspirations?
I want to keep growing Hot Steel, and I want to keep teaching people and I want to keep sharing and making my art, I don't want to lose that again. It’s a part of me and I lost it for a long time. But I also want to keep making really cool stuff for famous people. I want to keep doing what I'm doing and just get better and better at it. And maybe make some larger sculptures for myself. It would be cool to have someone apprentice under me. I've had people ask, but I'm so here and there and working on my own stuff. It's kind of sporadic, so it'd be fun to have my own shop where I can do workshops and have an apprentice to help me, and I could teach and see them grow and help me grow, that'd be fun.
What are the things you like most about being a welder?
I like that it’s challenging. I like that I'm doing something different every day. Every day I go into the shop and I never build the same thing. My mind is constantly going, whether I'm building something for the entertainment business or for myself, I'm constantly motivated. I love that I can think about something and I'm like, “Yeah, I could make that because I can weld.”
What are some challenges you’ve encountered as a welder?
I always get super nervous and I can't sleep the night before I go into a new shop, because I know that people are going to be questioning me; I know I'm not the normal welder they're expecting and they watch over me a little bit more in the beginning. They check my welds, check my squareness, make sure my measurements are on, and they don't always check the other guys. So I know they're gonna take a little getting used to me there.
Do you have advice for women who may be interested in pursuing a path in welding?
Yeah, just don't give up, and take advice from everyone. It doesn't matter how old you are or how young, or what experience you have, everyone has a different take on building and welding and don't turn anyone away. Normally, the old guy in the shop can teach you a few things because he's been there a long time. And criticism can be useful. Practice, and if you really love it, then you'll stick with it. And if you don't, then it's not for you. I mean, it’s definitely not for everyone.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to go camping. I love road trips. I love traveling to different places. I've been in every state besides Hawaii. I like to build things around the house and make the property pretty. I garden, I have a lot of plants, a lot.
Do you still skateboard?
Yeah, I still skateboard. It slowed down a little bit in the desert because of the dirt roads, but I met a group of ladies out here that skate so I’ll go skate with them at the park. It's fun to just roll around when the weather's nice, go to the beach and skate the boardwalk.
Where does your interest in 50s retro style come from?
I've been into that forever. I grew up liking sci-fi and I would wear my Nana's clothes that she saved from the 50s and 60s, so I’ve always had a vintage look. And I still have and wear all her dresses. And I love robots. I grew up going to Disney and Disneyland, and it's all kind of 50s and old and I’ve just been surrounded by it. And I have some of my Nana's furniture. I just love the futuristic, sci-fi 50s look.
If you were not a fabricator, which career path may you have chosen?
Gosh. I don’t know, bartending? I have no idea because I've done it since college, I haven't stopped. When I was younger, I wanted to work for Disney as an Imagineer or work in the park. I've always been around theme parks which is probably why I love the entertainment business. And I love rollercoasters. But Disney didn't allow people with tattoos to work there, and that was a big problem for me so I let that go. Now they allow you to have tattoos and work there, but you can't have any neck or hand tattoos so I'm still out.
Do you know how many tattoos you have?
Uhm…no, haha. An arm, a hand, another arm that's going to probably be covered. My brother just started so I let him tattoo the back of my legs.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
I would love to go to Australia. I always want to go to places that are different from where I am, which is why I moved from New York to LA to the desert. I just want to change it up into something new. And Hawaii, so I can finally check the 50 states off my list!
How do I apply to come work for you?
Are you hiring? I’ve been welding for 8 years I live in Michigan I currently work for a company we build the paint systems for General Motors I’m just curious to see what else is out there looking for a change