unsolvable puzzles
A new series of etchings by Theo Ågren is now online! Ågren is a master of slightly absurd, but straightforward images. In his images, simple everyday objects are often combined – a bag, a pair of gloves, a cactus – either in the same or in a series of images. In context, they grow and become something else. A mysterious rebus that can never be solved? An elevation of everyday objects into grand objects of art?
The new series, in a slightly larger format than previous etchings, was produced for Theo Ågren's exhibition Beyond prevailing circumstances at Kungsbacka Konsthall. The series was titled Beyond prevailing circumstances followed by the name of the item(s) they contain.
- The title comes from the fact that I enjoy turning and twisting what is around us, in everyday life, putting things in a new context, in new combinations.
Prints drying
– I work in a fairly intuitive way, getting a quick idea of an image of an object, usually an object that appears in my everyday life. I often combine several objects into one image, play around with new and unexpected combinations of objects that turn into stories about something, often quite unclear what they are about. Sometimes I let an object, like a bag or a stereotypical image of a mountain, stand for itself and tell its story.
A lot of people come to think of emojis when seeing Theo Ågren's work. They have the same kind of clarity and pure aesthetics that symbolize something we see daily but don't think much about.
- Sometimes I discover when I've made a picture that there is a similar emoji, so it's nothing deliberate, but they have settled in my head and come up when I'm sitting and playing around with new picture ideas.
The cut-out suitcase etched and ready to be printed
Theo Ågren works mainly with etching, line etching and aquatint.
- I often wash with the acid, to get smooth transitions. The pictures are cut out of the copper plate, with an angle grinder and metal saw. I also use a technique where, after I have inked the plate, for example black, I roll over a thin layer of another color. The pictures are thus a kind of combination of intaglio and relief printing, it gives a kind of woodcut feel that I like.
View all artworks by Theo Ågren
The shape of the gloves cut out in copper
The gloves being etched
The gloves inked and ready to be printed
