Tribal Mapping, Behind and Dull Reflection by Sara-Vide Ericsson.
Swedish artist Sara-Vide Ericssons paintings, many times in large format, should not only be read with aspect of color, composition, history, policy agenda or personal background. There is also an important aspect of emotions to be considered.
The titles of Vide Ericsson’s paintings lead my attention to poetic reflections, thoughts and understandings of the works themselves. Behind, a close up of a face, perhaps the artist's, with intense gaze. Being so close to someone meaning a relationship that involves more than friendship. Lips that are separated, perhaps melancholy, perhaps questioning. We will never know, but emotions are central. Tribal Mapping, an understanding of religious ceremonies, symbols from a culture that I do not know of, where objects are loaded, important religious and mythological effects. And Dull Reflections, Dull? Reflections? Two words in a title so central to thought and the essence of mankind. Ericsson's large format on the paintings makes me back off. Clear, big brushstrokes become even photographically similar to reality. The color white becomes gleaming in the lips of a person we will never know, even if we get as close as the subject allows.
/Susanne Fessé, December 2020
Sara-Vide Ericsson is educated at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Sweden and represented by Galleri Magnus Karlsson.
All photographs published with permission of Sara-Vide Ericsson.
Studio view, August 2017
Tribal Mapping, Oil on canvas, 120x160 cm, 2017.
Behind, Oil on canvas, 80x120 cm, 2017.
Dull Reflection, Oil on panel, 60x80 cm, 2017.