Trapped
Denna text finns bara på engelska
My exam work Trapped deals with the feelings of being mentally trapped in depression, anxiety and addiction but also a broader feeling of entrapment in society, in family, in relationships or in religion.
It’s a common experience, and perhaps not a unique one to work with in art, but it is still something a lot of us are ashamed to talk about. My work deals with feelings around the structure of society that we live in, how some of us are unable to fit in to the narrow frames of our world. Trying to fit in to everything, from the school system, the pressure of achieving, being successful or just being able to make a living all adds to the feeling and often the little
human in there is forgotten. I want to try to show that in my artwork. The work is a large section of figurative sculptures all working with expressions around this theme.
I wanted to explore both ancient and modern figures, keeping some of the timelessness of the historical human sculpture, the shapes and forms that every human can relate to, while also bringing it in to the contemporary and placing it in to a context that is unique of our times. Further I wanted to challenge myself by making the figures primarily in the forge, I’m not an experienced blacksmith but I believe that connecting with another ancient tradition like forge work I will keep the connection between history and modernity even more present.
I wanted to use only body posture and composition to achieve this, foregoing any facial expressions. I also wanted to experiment with composition between several works, how they interact together and how that can strengthen the expressive qualities as well as connect further with the problems I see in society. I’m working with feelings that I’ve struggled to talk about for most of my life I also hope that my work can make it so that not only I but also, more people feel like it’s something that they can talk about. Feeling trapped in society, in your life, in your family, should be something that we can talk about and I hope I can make others feel that it is alright to talk about it and that it shouldn’t be a taboo.
@OliverBenonysson
obenonysson@gmail.com
