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Email PagePhenomena
October 18, 2007- November 24, 2007
Reception: October 18, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Francesca Sundsten
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
521 W 26th St Francesca Sundsten Owl Head (2007) |
The paintings of Francesca Sundsten smash through the bounds between humans and animals then fuse them together in alternate arrangements. She embraces the freedom of a realist artist to take from the world and imbue it with a sense of the absurd or whimsical, a sense of humor or morbidity, or any of a host of moods, to lead the viewer to places more bizarre than any abstract work achieves. By forcing a suspension of disbelief, the effect is magnified because of its subtle manipulation of the familiar, which heightens the emotions, convictions, and ideas lurking beneath the surface. Thus, the viewer’s experience is enriched and one’s sense of the physical world complicated. Sundsten looks for connections between the human and animal, science and mythology, the stars and the sea, time and event, in a way that both organizes and questions.
In her new series, Phenomena, she works around the definition of the concept as it relates to an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal person, thing, or occurrence that is marvelous or extraordinary. Sundsten takes this idea to explore perception, existence, and imagination. Her paintings may seem to be constructed effigies of dream or fever states, but are they physically impossible? Although her depictions may not occur in the world as we know it, they could. Sundsten raises her hand to question the separation between dreams and reality, why some things do happen and others do not. How do we define flesh and our material existence as well as our metaphysical? The mutability of perception intrigues and taunts Sundsten as she dissects the possibilities.
One of the ways to explain our world is through myth and narrative archetype, trails that persist throughout our history. Sundsten constantly returns to this subject: the suggestion of the ineffable at any given moment. Insulated within our own experience, it’s difficult to view the world in a way that isn’t anthropocentric. As science delves deeper, humans become increasingly less important in the overall scheme of things. With our planet changing, worldviews must adapt and adopt new definitions of reality. The traditional grounding we have believed in evolves each day and perhaps genetic cross breeding could be a telling development that undermines our differentiation from other species. Why not make a minotaur? Why not make human-brained mice? Visions of monstrous creatures and chimera from fable and myth might be just around the corner where the future, or perhaps the past, meets the present.
Francesca Sundsten holds a Master’s in Fine Arts from Stanford University. She has mounted solo exhibitions with Davidson Galleries, Linda Warren Gallery, Diane Nelson Fine Art, Olga Dollar Gallery, and Parker/Zinc Gallery. Her work is held in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Microsoft, and the University of Washington Medical Center. Critical attention to her work has been received by the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Artist of the West Coast, ZYZZYVA, Coast Magazine, New Art Examiner, and Artweek.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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