Dialog with Ken Sandö, a quirky, unconventional Artist.
Hawke’s
Bay Art Guide describes the artist Ken Sando as “A multidisciplinary creative
whose work is easily recognizable by its quirkiness and unconventional subject
matters.” I believe this is a correct description in a nutshell that stimulates
the curiosity of the art lovers to learn more about Ken Sando’s work. I am
privileged to be one of Ken Sando’s family friends and also to collaborate with
Ken in different projects.
Valentina
TECLICI: Three years ago, you gave me very interesting answers to the Interview
about creativity that I also translated into Romanian. It was published, in
English and Romanian on different on-line magazines, personal blogs and
websites in Romania, Australia and New Zealand. I am aware that, in the last
couple of years, you have had a couple of personal exhibitions and you also
contributed to collective exhibitions.
Could
you please share with me and the readers of this interview the main art events
that happened in your creative work after your personal art exhibition “Rock’ n
roll” that was held at Boyd-Dunlop Gallery Napier on April 2017.
Ken
SANDÖ: I’ve been in a few more solo and group shows. Noticeable ones were;
Whorse-Sense, a solo show at Napier Contemporary Art Gallery in 2019. Looking
Good, a solo show at the Taupō Museum and Art Gallery in 2020 (which was
disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown). As well as the Hawkes Bay Art Trail
Exhibition at the Hastings Community Art Gallery.
Memories
of Olympia. 2020. Acrylic and Charcoal on Board. HB Arts Trail Exhibition.
A
number of works have sold over this period, with the most memorable one being
of “Memories of Olympia” which sold prior to the opening of the exhibition it
was exhibited in. I have also produced more sculptural pieces, mainly in the
continuation of the skulls’ series, as I’m getting great enjoyment from making
them.
Valentina
TECLICI: I was able to come with my husband Robert Anderson to the launch of
your personal art exhibition Whorse-Sense held at Boyd-Dunlop Gallery on 27th
September 2019.
Your
work “Power and Control” is for me an example of “unconventional matter” that
gives me freedom to think of different ideas and meanings. My mind could make
several assumptions of what was hidden behind it. In fact, what did you try to
express and communicate through this interesting piece of art?
Power
and Control. 2019. Acrylic and Charcoal on Board. Whorse Sense Exhibition.
Ken
SANDÖ: There are certainly many different readings one can take from this
imagery Valentina. Some of the core ideas I was contemplating when I produced
Power and Control are as follows:
Truth
is oftentimes considered or depicted as naked; I consider truth as formidable
and confronting to those that foster alternate narratives. So truth is a
paradox, for me, in the sense that it is both vulnerable and almost invincible.
Truth, also, just exists as an entity in its own right beyond the control of
external forces but exerts its own presence sometimes, and sometimes
forcefully. It is what it is…
The
powerful tend to be oblivious to all but themselves. Powerful
people/organisations/concepts/etcetera frequently have no realisation that
their actions present endangerment or outright dismissal of weaker
people/systems/groupings/etcetera… Power
brings with it its own ignorance; as “you only know what you know” and power
can find it almost impossible to look beyond its own privilege.
The
closed doorway, guarded by the suited and masked figures, is the present
Municipal Library entrance in Napier. This representation references control or
denial of access to information and knowledge, which is apparently a constant
in relationships of unbalanced power. If the way to knowledge is blocked it
implies that
It’s
nearly impossible to step out of the gutter if that’s the only vision you’ve
been given.
Valentina
TECLICI: Could you please tell us more about your philosophy and vision of
“looking good” that was reflected in your personal exhibition Looking good that
was held at Taupo Museum in April 2020.
Ken
SANDÖ: This exhibition was centered on the pun of looking good; meaning to look
at something well, to examine. Also to have an aesthetically pleasing
appearance according to popular taste or social mores. So it meant, for me, to
have the viewer look beyond the conventional or the surface to gain an awareness
of what may lay beyond the superficial. I utilised images in separate works
that referenced others in the show so that there was a thread of narrative
within each piece linked to the overarching thematics.
Looking
Good. 2020. Acrylic and Charcoal on Board. Looking Good Exhibition.
Valentina
TECLICI: I know that you would love to have more time for your art, doing it
full-time and not as a side-hustle. Lockdown kept us in our bubbles for nine
weeks. How did this isolation influence and affect your creativity and art
work?
Ken
SANDÖ: Honestly, the lockdown sucked. Really big-time sucked!
My
show at the Museum was mothballed, so I took a financial and emotional hit on
it. No show – no sale… Every other solo exhibition I’ve held has been able to
cover the considerable costs of holding them; I also feel my art making is truly acknowledged when someone has the
bravery to pay good money for one of my works. So a loss.
As
you know, part of my symbolism utilises masks and skulls; suddenly it seemed
everybody else started using this as a device within their art (understandably
so). I felt that I’d have to reinvent a large part of my artistic lexicon
because it suddenly seemed to be swallowed up in a greater story. This was also
a draining experience that I’m still trying to work through.
The
lockdown also revealed to me, Valentina, that I enjoy making artworks in
solitude and uninterrupted and having my family at home over that period didn’t
help my productivity at all.
I
did though get to spend plenty of time cleaning out my studio/workshop which
was cathartic.
Valentina
TECLICI: It sounds that the Lockdown was a big challenge for you and also an
opportunity to learn more about what you need to strive in your creativity and
productivity. Did you contemplate/ creating a work of art named “Lockdown”?
Ken
SANDÖ: No. Not at all. Perhaps in the future I may examine the experience a
little more and produce a work that is Lockdown specific. At the moment though
there is no desire to do so…
My
work is quite self-referential, so it holds these experiences and references
within it already without specifically highlighting them. Valentina, I feel
somewhere along the line the Lockdown may present itself in my work, either
specifically and/or obliquely.
Valentina
TECLICI: A few weeks ago, your work “Moaner Lisa”, a replica to Leonardo da
Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa, was presented in a group show at Community Arts
Napier. Instead the enigmatic smile, a moan. I felt goosebumps and I was not
sure if the strong emotion was positive. What did you intend to communicate
through this work of art?
Ken
SANDÖ: Well it seems I got what I wanted with this work in regards to your
response; An emotional response generated by an artwork (whether elation,
repulsion, or any other strong emotion) is what I believe should be at the core
of any good art piece. It signifies, to me, that It reaches beyond the
apathetic consumer/viewer and touches their mind. It means something more to
the viewer than a simply forgettable visual representation. And I’m not
dictating what sort of response – as long as there is one – because it
hopefully triggers a train of thought within the viewer as to why they
responded to the image the way they did.
Valentina
TECLICI: Our collaboration has continued. You designed the cover for Poetical
Bridges – Poduri lirice, my second bilingual collection and also involved in
the New Zealand National Poetry Day, last year as artist for the Painted Poem
event and this year as a photographer for Lens on Poetry event. How was it for
you to collaborate in these poetry projects?
The
Spirit of Napier. 2020. Print on Glossy Photo-Paper. Lense on Poetry Exhibition
Ken
SANDÖ: I quite like to be pushed beyond the known and mentally stretched so
doing collaborative work outside my normal stylistic and creative intellectual
content can be a refreshing experience. Although I do not actively seek out
these collaborative projects it is quite flattering when someone is willing to
trust me and share with me their work and then allow the freedom of layering my
ideas over theirs.
Working
with you Valentina on these collaborations has been another way for me to
broaden my skillset and contribute to something greater than myself. Thank you.
Poetry
in Motion. 2019. Acrylic and Charcoal on Board. Painted Poem Exhibition.
Valentina
TECLICI: Thank you, Ken, for your time and your interesting answers.
October
2020
Whorse-Head.
2020. Acrylic and Charcoal on Board. Looking Good Exhibition.
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