Tommy Sveningsson
Vaxnycklar
24.05—22.06.19

Gallery Steinsland Berliner (GSB) is pleased to present Vaxnycklar, an exhibition of new drawings and paintings by Tommy Sveningsson.

Central to Tommy Sveningsson’s practice is a firmly held belief in the potential for beauty in his surroundings. He forages these possibilities on explorations through nature, urban and wild, taking photos which function as basis for his paintings and drawings. His last solo exhibition at GSB (Citadell,2016) was comprised of eerily still scenes in desolate natural settings, a human presence being ambiguous but nevertheless real. This time, Sveningsson has chosen to further distance himself from tangible references, emerging himself and us into a realm which is far less recognisable.

The exhibition title Vaxnycklarrefers to a type of orchid by the same name, a meaty flower with petals arranged in crystalline order. The orchid is both comforting in its assurance of a thriving earth and horrifyingly alien. Engineered to excellence by imperceptible forces. On display in Vaxnycklaris a similar sense of enthralling disquiet. Sveningsson’s palette is almost fluorescent in its vibrancy, this together with the effects of a departure from his usual perspective creates a world where nothing is quite as it seems. Aside from a few scraps of what appears to be some type of manufactured material caught on branches, this world is devoid of any suggestion of human presence. Instead, nature seems to be imbued with an awareness of its own, a source of power with an unknown objective. Beautiful wildflowers appear to have grown without interference, they are surrounded by protective grass which seems to be particularly sharp. From across a field of luminous flowers, a gathering of glowing entities is visible, unexplained but commanding in their presence.