This has been a strange week ; two people close to me by one degree of separation died this week... I've been in a daze ; death definitely causes the questioning of things.
I was at my neighbours yesterday; drinking wine. And his music caught my ear. Junip he told me was what we were listening to and then he showed me the record cover. ..
'Wow' the drawings on this record were something that hit me right in the centre of my forehead. So simple, yet complex, so soft yet [powerful.
We looked up the artist - 'Fredrick Soderberg' - I was blown away by his work.
The strange thing is the one image which really stood out to me is called 'I',.. I just posted it to my Facebook and then noticed something....
My favourite of Soderberg's when paired with one of my most recent raved-about creations -The Prayer Rug- echoed the proportion and symbology in a very similar way.
This leads me to gasp because I remain ignorant by choice a lot of the time. Working to tune out the world - so my work can't be uninfluenced by others. I am so proud of my Prayer Rugs because they speak about so much; Conflicts in religion; Spiritual strength; Freedom; Power; Peace; Beauty; Tradition; Birth; Life; Prayer; After Life. ..and more.
To see a stranger's work, a celebrated artist from Stockholm, echo something I feel came from purely within me, uninfluenced and true, tells me I am tapping into something bigger and important ; and thus I am probably on the right path. This is reassuring and inspiring.
It is so interesting to me - and perhaps I am reading into it to too much - but either way I like how sometimes my purposeful ignorance often teaches me things - even months, years after I create something.
I love your work 'Fredrick Soderberg' - Thank you for making it.
"One of the potentials of art is that it can work as magick, in the sense that it deals with an apprehension of reality that claims you can affect the physical realm by having contact with the transcendental and metaphysical realms." - Fredrick Soderberg Artist Statement
