CONNERSMITH is presenting an online view of “Gather” by American surrealist Erik Thor Sandberg, who is easily one of my favorite painters on this planet.
| GATHER by Erik Thor Sandberg |
This major work features a thoughtful gathering of multiple human figures and a profusion of hybrid animals within a detailed landscape. Though unsettling, and equally grotesque as Hieronymus Bosch’s demons, Sandberg’s fantastical creatures seem vulnerable, perhaps even endearing. “I didn’t want to make them too scary,” the artist elucidates. “I think people conceived of demons as scapegoats for human failings. My creatures aren’t evil; they represent experiences, feelings, motivations – aspects of life that shape us for good or bad. Life throws everything at you. Some things can damn near cripple you; some make you stronger, some make you laugh. They are all important.”
Two standing women dominate the scene. One figure appears astonishingly translucent. The other holds a woven strand of creatures that are being either drawn into, or expelled from, the see-through torso of her companion. “I often present the human form as a vessel for various things,” Sandberg relates. “These creatures fill the figure with aspects of humanity.” The person who facilitates the process has an aspect of resolution, as someone who has already undergone something similar. This scenario evolved from earlier works where Sandberg depicted vessels as biological cells, clumps of earth, watery spheres, or skulls containing multiple figures, each person symbolizing a different aspect of the self. Composite forms are important in the artist’s work, as he explains, “I don’t think anyone is completely good or completely evil. Myriad experiences define intricate layers that make us who we are. I create aggregates to express this complexity.”
The assembly in “Gather” is bracketed between a cat, who watches from the foreground, and a seated woman, who peers out from behind the standing technician. “In some paintings I include one or more figures that I call witnesses,” Sandberg imparts. “They do not participate. They do not interfere. They, like the viewer, are just trying to understand everything that is happening.” Sandberg describes the woman staring out from the background as a companion to the crowned skeleton/death figure on the other side of the technician. He elaborates, “I imagine her whispering without words to the woman standing in front of her.” The theme of watching is amplified by eyes and eyeballs integrated throughout the scene. “Eyes imbue life and spirit into my images,” Sandberg reflects. “After all, seeing and being seen is a basic human desire.”
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