ERIK THOR SANDBERG
Erik Thor Sandberg
Wizard, 2026
oil on wood panel
12 x 12 inches, tondo.
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"In Wizard I wanted to show a feeling growing over someone, so I painted a figure enveloped in a tree. He’s floating high up in the sky, like he’s being conveyed by the circumstances that confine him. When things are moving too fast for you to get out of the way, you may feel like you are being carried away. There’s a leaf on one branch, so that’s a hopeful sign, but he looks worried."
- Erik Thor Sandberg, May 2026
Erik Thor Sandberg
At a Loss, 2026
oil on wood panel
12 x 12 inches, tondo.
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"At a Loss is my version of the Dance of Death. Instead of being an all-powerful entity, Death is kind of a pitiable character. Instead of a dance, it’s more like a stroll. The broken tower, arrow, and bow are about losing power, losing things we are used to having. It’s an allegory of the conflicts around us. Sometimes they absorb us. When we can ignore them and focus on our own feelings everything else becomes background noise. That’s what the dogs and cats represent. I like dogs. I like cats. Can't they just get along? There’s also a snake going after a bird. The bird is yellow, which symbolizes hope."
- Erik Thor Sandberg, May 2026
Erik Thor Sandberg
Route, 2026
oil on wood panel
10 x 10 inches.
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"The figure in Route is just as trapped as the wizard, but she holds the strings connected to glass orbs containing swallow and a bat, who are flying and impelling her forward. She’s younger and she’s only elevated slightly off the ground. Time is sweeping the wizard away, but she has more choices and is more in control of her destiny."
- Erik Thor Sandberg, May 2026
Erik Thor Sandberg
Shelter, 2026
oil on wood panel
12 x 12 inches, tondo.
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"A crying baby held aloft by a heron is the catalyst in Shelter. The child symbolizes facing what the world throws at us, trying to be heard when no one listens or understands us. The mushroom-like figure is part of nature who shelters animals from the child’s tears as they splash into vessels. The heron has been shaking tears out of the kid, but will put him down at some point. I like the time aspect. The idea of collecting is also fun. The shelter-figure deflects the boy’s distress, as though she doesn’t hear it, but she also collects his tears."
- Erik Thor Sandberg, May, 2026