Holly Williams for Art-Sheep
Do you know that feeling when you miss a step walking down the stairs and for one crazy second it looks like you’re going to tumble head-on all the way to the bottom? This is exactly the sort of feeling one gets when looking at pictures of artist Kerry Skarbakka. This “edgy” photographer, inspired by philosopher Martin Heidegger’s definition of human existence as perpetual falling, captures various freeze shots of himself seemingly falling or about to fall, suspended in midair.
With the use of special climbing gear, Skarbakka, in his series titled Struggle to Right Oneself, is seen in a wide array of frightening poses: slipping in the shower, falling off a tree, a freakishly high bridge or a balcony. The artist, himself, says about his photographs, “This photographic work is in response to this delicate state. It comprises a culmination of thought and emotion, a tying together of the threads of everything I perceive life has come to represent. It is my understanding and my perspective, which relies on the shifting human conditions of the world that we inhabit. It’s exploration resides in the sublime metaphorical space from where balance has been disrupted to the definitive point of no return. It asks the question of what it means to resist the struggle, to simply let go. Or what are the consequences of holding on?”
