Johnathan Daily Swedish-American , b. 1974
Cloud (series Corporeal), 2011
oil on canvas
28 x 32 cm
Series: Corporeal
Partially inspired by the Northern Renaissance, these works from 2009–2012 (with two later additions from 2018) are small in scale and highly detailed. From a distance, they carry a portrait-like...
Partially inspired by the Northern Renaissance, these works from 2009–2012 (with two later additions from 2018) are small in scale and highly detailed. From a distance, they carry a portrait-like sensibility, but upon closer inspection, they reveal biological forms merging in surrealistic fusion. The imagery evokes physical sensations—disgust, hunger, lust, phobia—and avoids the use of direct light to emphasize the unreality of these fantastical scenes. A deliberate flatness destabilizes the compositions, undermining traditional structure and space. The works are meant to feel slightly off: familiar yet inherently foreign, as if from a place that cannot exist, or a past that lies in the future.