For this edition of UNSEEN we are very pleased to present works by the Danish artists Susanne Wellm, Joakim Eskildsen og Torben Eskerod.
Bringing together these artists, relays both poetic, contemplative and tactile dimensions.
Susanne Wellm (b.1965 - Denmark) her practice can best be understood in the context of “New Textiles in Photography”. For more than 20 years she has collected existing photographic material. This comprehensive and personal archive is the ground substance for her works. Each completed work is unique and are the result of both digital and analogical processes. Working predominantly on a loom which she threads in a range of colors corresponding to the image in process, she meticulously cuts the photographs into fine strips after which she proceeds to weave the original cropped still into a new abstracted version. Wellm uses the heritage and craftsmanship of traditional weaving to alter the viewers perception and original narrative thus visually placing the works between fact and fiction.
Joakim Eskildsen (b.1971 - Denmark) is one of the most published and recognized photographers to emerge from the Helsinki School. He is most noted for his documentary photographic monographs that take a very personal view in depicting communities on the fringes of society. Despite seemingly melancholic undertones, Eskildsen achieves an overwhelming closeness in his work, often by living alongside his subjects for long periods of time. Throughout all his various publications, Eskildsen has demonstrated an innate sense for capturing an intimacy with his subjects much in the same manner as Diane Arbus. It’s not one factor but a combination of many that establishes Eskildsen as one of the most notable documentary photographers of his generation. Whether it be the light or the temperament of any given moment, his ability to focus on the center of what he feels is the essential element in a given picture, lending it a life of its own.
Torben Eskerod (b.1960 - Denmark) is an internationally recognised photographer and his preferred motifs are faces and places. In his serial studies, he seeks immersion in order to gain a deeper insight into his choice of topic. Eskerod’s works expose poetic meditation which articulate his artistic dialogue with the motif and the relationships between photographic surface and aesthetic translation.The coined term ‘material aesthetic’ is when the medium is given a determining role in the aesthetic expression. In the process of capturing motifs, Eskerod abandons the obvious expression to the random events that arise in his play with the material.