Thursday, December 28, 2017

Compression

Mikael Sandblom's  show 'Compression' ran in December 2017 in the Cell Gallery at Gallery 1313 in Toronto. It comprised eight mixed media paintings as well as a collection of architecturally themed photographs.  
Virtual Tour of Compression Show - click here for a larger view.

Mikael Sandblom’s art breaks apart and reforms before our eyes. Patches of water atomize into vertical bands as you approach. Dot patterns resolve into billowing clouds as you step back.

Throughout the surface, fragments of images float into focus and then recede as the eye moves on to other elements. These mixed-media paintings are built in layers. Photos, paint and cutouts float over a reflective aluminum substrate that causes the images to change with the light and the angle of view.
The paintings do not resolve into single images that can be seen all at once. They reflect a world where nothing is solid or permanent. It’s our act of perception that brings elements into being and dissolves them again.

The experience of viewing these paintings could be more widely applied to life. If we can nudge ourselves to question our tacit assumptions and presuppositions about our world, then we make room for wider possibilities.

"East and West" Mixed Media on Aluminum, 20W x 20H inches

"Draw a Bicycle" Mixwd Media on Aluminum, 30W x 20H inches

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Proportions and Regulating Lines

Since antiquity, artists and architects have relied on regulating lines and mathematical ratios to guide the proportions and arangement of their work. The use of these techniques helps a composition 'look right'.

There are many different geometric compositional systems such as the golden ratio or the rule of thirds.  In this case we are starting with a square image and will therefore use a ratio of the square root of two: the ratio between the diagonal of the square and the side of the square.

'Winter Light' mixed media painting with regulating lines


As you can see, the elements of the composition are arranged within a framework of related ratios. The relationship between the the dimensions shown in the image can be expressed mathematically:


Besides helping to guide a balanced composition, these mathematical relationships add one more layer to these layered images!

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Three Frames of Reference

I want to put my thinking about my work in context. I think of this context as a series of frames that my art operates within.

The first frame is one of values. The context here is that doubt is good. Uncertainty is helpful. To develop a better understanding of the world, we first have to accept that we don't know everything, that our thinking and ideas are fallible.

The second frame is one of substance. The world is not permanent or immutable. Everything and every moment is constantly passing away. Conversely, and on the bright side, there is a future full of new potential.

The third frame is aesthetic. Its a belief that art communicates in ways that are beyond what can be put into words. Art has to speak without words.

'As in a Mirror' mixed media on aluminum 2017 20W x 20H inches

There are of course many more frames of reference than these, both conscious and unconscious. There's everything from culture and history to media and materials. The three frames I describe situate my work within a larger universe of art. 





Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Expansion

Compression builds up potential energy that can fuel rapid expansion. These Compression Paintings expand inwards. Behind the surface of the image, large vistas reach into the deep space of perspective.

'East and West' 2017, Mixed Media on Aluminum, 20W x 20H inches


The artwork, a physically static object, moves as you look at it. It both represents and mimics the behaviour of clouds and waves. As soon as you've seen something, it's gone again.  Each cloud and wave is unique and fleeting.  The pattern of waves, the behaviour of clouds is unchanging and eternal.



Saturday, September 30, 2017

Compression


Compression is  the first in a series of new mixed media paintings. This new series incorporates many of the same visual elements from earlier work but I am now seeking to arrange them in a layered, compressed manner:

'Compression' Mixed Media on Aluminum, 2017 20W x 20H inches

Compare the composition to an earlier painting where several images were arranged together and displayed as in a vitrine:

'Departures' Mixed Media on Aluminum, 2017 30W x 20H inches

By stacking and compressing images that use different modes of representation, I am now further enhancing the idea of impermanence. I keep the eye and the mind moving. You can see the clouds, you can imagine the surface of the water reflecting the pattern that spans the image. As you move back or to the side you can see the other water surface rendered in the vertical line elements. You can see all these things, but not at the same time. 

By enlarging the various modes of representation, the dot-screens, the pixels and the partial painted surfaces, I emphasize the artifice of the images. You become a aware that 'image' is an illusion. You understand that seeing is not a objective recording of a fixed reality.  Seeing is active. In fact you choose and construct the way you perceive reality. 





Thursday, June 1, 2017

Structures Virtual Tour

Here's a virtual tour of the Structures show at Gallery 1313:

Click here to open the virtual tour in a new tab.


And here's a virtual tour of a concurrent show: 'Life Disrupted' in the main gallery:
Click here to open the virtual tour in a new tab.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Flow

Instead of brushing on the paint to make the water patterns, I have poured the paint down and pushed a viscous paint mixture over the surface.  The effect is a more fluid and leaves an interesting trace of the movement and flow of the substance that has now become frozen on the surface.

"Metamorphosis" mixed  media on aluminum, 30" x 20", 2017


Underneath the painted shapes is an abstracted image of clouds.  The clouds are rendered as text on the left hand side and as large pixels on the right hand. Behind the cloud image there is a photo of a building under construction shot up against a sky where again there are clouds visible.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Structures

Come see my work at Gallery 1313! I've got two pieces in the show 'Structures' which runs from May 25th until June 4th, 2017.

'Departures'  Mixed Media on Aluminum, 30"W x 20"H

'The Sea is not Full' Mixed Media on Aluminum, 24"W x 18"H



GALLERY 1313
Wednesday – Sunday, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
1313 Queen Street West Toronto, ON.
Phone: 416-536-6778






Before the Flood


In this picture a concrete structure seems to dissolve under pixelated clouds and abstracted water patterns. The water image on the left is atomized into a line-screen pattern as you look closer. 

'Before the Flood'  Mixed Media on Aluminum 30"W x 20"H


The white shapes that span the image oscillate between flat abstract elements on the picture surface and reflective waves on water. The piece presents imagery and yet interferes with the imagery.

I've made the painting to be something interesting to look at and that will draw you in. Symbolism is suggested but never confirmed:

  • The structure could represent the reality we build around ourselves.
  • The concrete could represent permanence and solidity. 
  • The water could represent movement and constant change - perhaps the opposite of permanence.

But equally, opposite readings could be equally valid.

  • the structure could represent a reality that is imposed on us. 
  • The concrete construction could represent lack of permanence since it is a building under construction. 
  • The water could represent permanence. Even though it is fluid, its appearance and behaviour is always the same. 
So, what does this painting 'mean'?  It is meaningful, in that it is full of meanings - but does not reduce to a single meaning. 

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Meaningful Images

Instagram on a phone. Images are viewed within a fraction of a second. Not looked at, as much as registered. 

If you posted a picture of particularly beautiful clouds:




No one would 'see' or really look at them. It's just registered as Clouds. Flick. Next.

An artist sees something in the clouds. There's a feeling there. But a picture isn't enough. Clouds. Flick. Next. 

The artist has to do something more. Jasper John's famous sketchbook note: ''Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it."

By painting an image, the artist slows down the gaze. We see the image being made. The artist brings us a step closer.  Here's a beautiful painting of clouds by Rae Johnson. You don't just see clouds. In the brushwork you see Rae seeing the clouds. 




Sunday, April 30, 2017

Stone and Water

These new paintings are based on photos I took in the Rock Mountains this year. It's a beautiful part of the world; awe inspiring when you think of how the mountains came to be:

  • During the Paleozoic era, this area was a shallow sea.
  • Over millions of years, layers of sediment were deposited, and slowly turned to stone several kilometers deep. 
  • Around 80 million years ago, tectonic plates began to collide pushing the stone up.
  • Water, in the form of ice and glaciers as well as in the form of streams and rivers, carved through the stone to create the  peaks and valleys we see today. 
Imperceptible to our eyes, the mountains are still moving and changing.


'Tectonic' Mixed Media on Aluminum

'Water Cycle' Mixed Media on Aluminum

'Water and Stone' Mixed Media on Aluminum

'Erosion' Mixed Media on Aluminum

The feeling of solidity of these mountains is an illusion created by our short human scale of time. the Rockies are slowly, but constantly, being built up and worn down.

These mountain paintings fit into my current larger body of work that deals with constant change and the illusion of permanence.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

The Artist Project

It was a great show - but grueling long hours. Everything ran smoothly with help from Hugh and Caleb! Thank you guys! Here are some photos:







Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Constant Change

This too shall pass. These paintings describe a world that is ephemeral – where everything, the good and the bad, is always passing away.

 I’m presenting impermanence and constant change in the static form of paintings. The paintings are still. It’s the viewer who provides the motion. The eye roves over the surface. It dives into the depth of perspective; it flips back to the flat graphics on the surface. It alternates between seeing the surface and seeing through it.
"From the Air", Mixed media on aluminum 30" x 20", 2017

 You can’t see the perspective space, the graphic elements, the water surface and the map diagrams all at once. You read these things one at a time; you go back and forth between them.

"Window of Appearance", Mixed media on aluminum 30" x 20", 2017


My paintings include a range of subject matter as well as a range of representational techniques. Hand painted elements are stacked over mechanically reproduced images and diagrams. The layering, the imperfections and the brush marks in the paint expose the process of making. Manual craft changes the way we interact with images. The disturbing ruins in Syria in particular, deserve the attention of being manually painted.

"Departures", Mixed media on aluminum 30" x 20", 2017


My intention with this body of work is to create paintings that are visually strong and will get your attention but will resist quick interpretation. The longer the pieces remain ambiguous and mysterious the more I think you’ll see in them; the more they’ll reward you.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Cedar Ridge Virtual Tour

Here's an interactive view of the show at Cedar Ridge. I've taken photos on a tri-pod and stitched them together to create this virtual tour. I've also added links to detailed photos of the paintings:


Monday, February 13, 2017

Cedar Ridge

The show at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre opened on Sunday - and I think it looks great! The show runs until Feb 24th. Come take a look:











Sunday, January 15, 2017

Cedar Ridge Creative Centre

Mikael Sandblom will be showing new art at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre in Scarborough in February:



The show runs from February 12th to 24th, 2017.
There is an opening on Sunday February 12th from 1-4pm.
Gallery hours are from 10am to 8pm Monday to Wednesday and 10am to 4pm Thursday to Sunday. 
Mikael's work will share the gallery alongside paintings by France-Marie Trepanier. 

Cedar Ridge Creative Centre is housed in a historic mansion and adjacent gardener's cottage built in 1912.  The Cedar Creative Ridge Centre is owned and operated by the City of Toronto Arts & Culture Unit.


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Gallery 1313 Panorama

Here's a panoramic view of my show over at Gallery 1313:
Click and drag your mouse to look around. Use the scroll wheel to zoom.


And here are a couple of panoramas of the Eco Art Show which is running concurrently:


Thursday, January 5, 2017

Gallery 1313 Opening

Great opening at Gallery 1313 for the Eco Art show in the main gallery and my new paintings in the Cell Gallery.




Wednesday, January 4, 2017

All Rivers Run Into The Sea

I've got a new show at Gallery 1313 in Toronto.  The show runs from Jan 4th to the 15th.  Hours are 1pm to 6pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Come down and check it out!



The title of this show comes from Ecclesiastes, a text which describes a world that is ephemeral - always passing away.  “All rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.”
I’m presenting impermanence and constant change in the static form of paintings. The paintings are still. It’s the viewer who provides the motion. The eye roves over the surface. It dives into the depth of perspective; it flips back to the flat graphics on the surface. It alternates between seeing the surface and seeing through it.

You can’t see the perspective space, the graphic elements, the water surface and the map diagrams all at once. You read these things one at a time; you go back and forth between them.
My paintings include a range of subject matter as well as a range of representational techniques. Hand painted elements are stacked over mechanically reproduced images and diagrams.  The layering, the imperfections and the brush marks in the paint expose the process of making.  Manual craft changes the way we interact with images. The disturbing ruins in Syria in particular, deserve the attention of being manually painted.



My intention with this body of work is to create paintings that are visually strong and will get your attention but will resist quick interpretation. The longer the pieces remain ambiguous and mysterious the more I think you’ll see in them; the more they’ll reward you.