Sandy Skoglund

Sandy Skoglund

            Sandy Skoglund is famous for being an installation artist and photographer.  Skoglund creates interesting installation spaces by building colorful sets with actors and interesting furniture.  Most importantly, she will often have a repeated object emphasized within the installation.  Sometimes the repeated object is an animal made out of clay, and then brightly colored.  For example, in her piece Radioactive Cats, there are numerous lime-green clay cats interacting with the installation space.  Other bright, repeated objects she has used in her installation photos are orange fish, blue leaves, and red foxes.  These emphasized objects will always be contrasted against a bright background, resulting in a highly saturated photo.  Other installations of hers use repeated objects in a different way, such as with The Cocktail Party, in which Skoglund has covered all of the surfaces within the installation with orange cheese puff snacks.

            I am inspired by Sandy Skoglund’s use of repeated objects within her installations.  I also really enjoy the high color saturation of her photography.  I think that her use of sculpture with the repeated forms is very successful, especially with the contrasting backgrounds.  Another thing about Skoglund’s work that I think is successful is her use of actors within her scenes.  The actors appear unaware and unsurprised by the figures accompanying them in their environments.  I also appreciate that in images such as The Cocktail Party, the human figures are treated as part of the scenery and are also covered in the cheese puffs, just like the tables and walls.  I chose to research Sandy Skoglund because I have been familiar with her work since high school, and I have looked to her for inspiration to combine sculpture, installation, and photography into one piece.