Erik Mark Sandberg
Erik Mark Sandberg was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attended Art Center College of Design, receiving a B.F.A with distinction in 2002. His body of work ranges from an experimental mix of painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and video. Since 2002, Sandberg’s work and projects have been exhibited at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Including the solo exhibitions Atwater at Det Nya Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2017), Interlude at Stephanie Chefas Projects, Portland, Oregon (2018), The New Pretty, RMIT University Residency Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia (2011), Get Pretty Now, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, NY (2011). Before becoming an assistant professor of art at California State University Northridge in 2018, Sandberg has lectured at Otis College of Art and Design, Art Center College of Design, and Pacific Northwest College of Art.
www.instagram.com/erikmarksandberg/
Hi Erik, could you tell us about your background? How and when did you first start to paint?
I’m an artist and academic currently working in the shadow of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, California. I was initially raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortunately, I had creative parents who valued the arts and encouraged entry into every child’s grocery store coloring contest, along with dropping me off for summer extension classes at the museum. Those early experiences allowed the visual arts to cast their spell.
What is your process like? How do you begin to work?
My process usually starts by writing random notes on my phone, photographing, and collecting random images and textures. Over time directions and ideas begin to emerge. Once I have a guide, I tend to circle into the execution and embark on a series of long unhealthy painting marathons—technology aids in the visual planning of the work and construction of certain assets.
What does your artwork represent?
An allegorical reflection of life experiences and cultural observations.
How do you choose the characters of your paintings?
The figurative elements come from various sources, including contemporary advertising, daily observations, various media, and imagination. I was looking for a metaphor that spoke to the contemporary persona. I ended up investigating and basing parts of the figuration on vintage cookie jars. It was the idea of a shiny vessel with unknown contents that seemed apropos.
What is the story behind fluffy and hirsute portraits?
What does portrait mean to you? The hair or hirsutism became a metaphorical vehicle for describing the effects of populace culture. The portraits are related to how psychological can echo the physiological. Portraiture as a visual language has a rich history and allows relatable insight. The form is recognizable, which enables a type of familiar entry into the work.
You have been working with diverse mediums, from painting and photography to printmaking and sculpture. How does each medium characterize your work?
The mixed media and materials aid in the visual investigations of ideas and ultimately help inform the paintings. The ideas communicate differently when presented in a photographic, sculptural, or video state. Paintings are expansive, the sculptures are a fixed form, and the photo state carries a past tense or an ‘it was’ sensibility. The process of printmaking is used in my practice like a sketchbook, investigating texture combinations, image layering, color, and process effects. There is an inherited relationship between the printing processes and the ideas around consumer culture communicated.
Your approach to art is where grotesque and beautiful meet; how do you describe this mode of aesthetics?
I try to investigate the psyche through metaphor and representation. Within that dichotomy between the beautiful and the grotesque, there is a point of intersection. As a painter, I’m curious as to when the representation titers from one to the other. As color is a close friend of the psyche, it helps guide the reader of the work. Living in the city of Hollywood strangely provides some cues as well.
How has your art practice changed over time?
The practice continues to be in a state of becoming. Lately, I’ve been interested in a higher level of surface information and how it can expand the quality of paintings. The approach to the recent paintings has embraced the weapons of the Renaissance tradition in seeking an increased level of craft as an ideological component to the work.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you? I was fortunate to have experienced the Sistine Chapel empty after hours.
How has the city you are living and working in influenced you and the art you create? The California dreaming vibe has always been a reoccurring presence in the work. The works reflect a type of observational zeitgeist from daily life here in LA.
What is your dream project?
I have always wanted to conceptually direct a music video or a large-scale projection project.
