Agape Charmani for Art-Sheep
Rich, delicate and surreal; these are the words I’d use to describe the unique work of Erik Thor Sandberg. His paintings depict his strange, macabre vision, using realistic portraiture and ethereal landscape, topics very well known to the common eye.
His paintings might remind one of the aesthetic of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. Sandberg’s figures are modern, grotesque figures that go through the same illogical situations as Bosch’s frenetic characters. Interested in “dead things, naked things, vintage things, antique things, disturbingly cute things, acutely disturbing things,” as he writes on his Facebook page, Sandberg creates worlds that combine his favorite themes. Reminiscent of a dark dreamland, the artist’s heroes live in places of chaos and decay, interacting with each other in unorthodox and extravagant ways.
As written on his website, the artist embraces the mistakes and abnormalities of this world, highlighting their strange beauty. “His skillfully crafted images, both miniature and larger than life, reveal the unexpected way in which imperfection makes life interesting. How often the disturbing and the grotesque capture the viewer’s gaze before the beautiful!”
