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Complacency
ERIK THOR SANDBERG was Born in Quantico, VA, 1975 and Lives and works in Washington, DC Erik Thor Sandberg approaches each composition as if it were a conversation between the artist and the viewer. The dialogue thus generated by his work always questions and attempts to define human identity (and scraps thereof). Using symbolism both established and personal, Sandberg creates narratives without definitive beginnings or ends; he captures pivotal moments and isolates them from time. Upon these suspended moments, the artist abstains from casting judgment and rather, empathizes with the figures that are often transfixed by self-wrought disaster. Traditionally, Sandberg’s work has depicted secular scenes of vice and virtue from a standpoint that human nature is inherently flawed. More recently, these fundamental flaws in life have continued to draw Sandberg to dissect and expose pieces of human nature. 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! Yet, beauty, eternally appreciated, remains an essential component of Sandberg’s work as it contrasts the unsettling and unsightly elements of these imaginary worlds that hinge, unsettlingly, on the verge of our own.
