Japanese photographer Takeshi Suga captures dreamlike scenes that remind of warm summer days and tranquil walks beneath branches arrayed with cherry blossoms. Each photograph is like a sweet confection, served with a healthy helping of nostalgia and comfort and ready to be enjoyed. (Via The Fox is Black)
Sif Itona Westerberg, working out of Copenhagen, crafts organic, twisted sculptures and nostalgic textile work infused with elements of delicious 80′s hardcore. And for good measure, she also renders tributary graphite drawings in a cemented, clear-cut vision; you know, just so we stay on the same page. She’s recently exhibited such work within immersive gallery installations that economically work toward the creation of an overall effective, dripping ode to the last two decades of the twentieth century (she pulls off the backlight).
But what business does Westerberg, born in 1985, have in the composition of a body of work based on iconography and experience that had all but died by the time she reached her teens? Perhaps, a good amount. This work is a wonderfully executed exercise in the common experience of conjured nostalgia- pining for experiences you never had. For through the process of remembering that which you don’t actually remember , you are able to present an account much more infused with spirit and holism. When did facts ever help anyone, anyway?
Sif Itona Westerberg is currently showing a series of collaborative work with Asbjørn Skou (Armsrock) at MOHS exhibit in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Michael Willis‘ visual language doesn’t consist of any single point of reference. Rather, it is a syncretic blend of multiple styles and influences – a sort of hodgepodge of 60s psychedelia, 80s computer graphics, and a modern view of pop culture. Imagery sometimes includes figures that are in the American cultural unconscious – Frank from Blue Velvet, for example, makes an appearance in a drawing. But more often than not this outlook on pop culture, especially looking back towards the 60s and 70s, is expressed through the utilization of stock imagery of anonymous, yet clearly old, photographs of people from days of yore.
