Sandy Skolgund

SANDY SKOGLUND
Sandy Skoglund was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1946. Sandy’s first job was decorating cakes, selling perfume, shoes, lotions and even hot dogs. Skolgund says she always knew she was an artist since before she even went to school because she never felt like she belonged and so she created her own world in her art and then eventually her photography. Skolgund majored in Art history and studio art which would later become very helpful in her photography. She then went on to teach art at Hartford University and Rutgers University. In 1972 Skolgund began working as a conceptual artist in New York which then developed a desire to document conceptual ideas which ended up leading her into photography for documentary purposes, which she managed to pick up and teach herself. This developing interest in photography combined with her interest in popular culture and commercial picture making strategies resulting in the directorial tableau work that she has become well known for today. this work has surreal tableaux with bright colour full images with reoccurring objects. Skolgunds incorporated her skills in sculpting into her photography by sculpting many of the human figures that were used in the sets for her images. Her sets were almost always of a huge scale, some of which taking 6 moths to a year to build. Skolgund has had her work displayed in prominent museum, like The Dayton Art Institute and the San Francisco Museum of modern Art. Skolgund is currently living in New Jersey and says one of her bigger influences has been Claus Oldenberg because of his approach to art and the interest he takes in culture, She said “I feel a kinship with him in his use of humour and also horror although some might not see his work as being horrific.” she was also influenced by the work of Ann Hamilton “It’s in a scale and obsession and ambition and use of materials.” Skolgund was also influenced by Rona Pondick who is a sculptor who does a lot of slightly warped...