Bringing their gloomy but often twistedly funny world from Belgium (where they both live and work) to Moosey Norwich, are Swedish and Dutch artists Heidi Ukkonen and Lysandre Begijn. This time the gallery is cast in pink, a bright bubble to house their paintings and installations, shielding them and you from the bleak outside world. The show is on view through May 21, 2022.
The title Suspirium refers to a deep breath or sigh, in this case perhaps, a sigh of relief or existential boredom. Taken from the Thom Yorke song of the same name, the works maintain the same sombre mood of the track. “If you look at my masks or faces, they are all sad, bored, anxious, bewildered and I think ‘suspirium’ fits the works very well.. It's like a state of mind of our generation, a mirror,” Lysandre Begijn tells us. We’re greeted unavoidably by her woefully sad faces, their tiny high-pitched wails for help or salvation almost audible as you get close enough to see their pained expressions. Hair or foliage, roots maybe, fall beside their faces, mirroring the tears, anguished brows and pursed lips, anchoring them to their distress. Given the anxiety of the modern world - global pandemics, inflated living costs and impending world wars - it’s easy to sympathise with them.
