[ Svenska ]______________________________________[ Start ]   Conversations with Susanne Fagerlund Decay and reconstruction In her investigation the artist Susanne Fagerlund photographs insects which she manipulates through strategic interventions from what they once were to various stages of decay and entropy. Against the background of the artist’s own obvious physical existence, countering the exclusive grief of not being able to see her own contours, she stages an examination of a parallel form of alienation – her insect phobia. The actual working process is extremely important for the artist. “It’s dead insects that I collect in glass jars, which I then mechanically manipulate before depicting them,” says Susanne. Through the microscope she photographs the sublimated waste in more than 150 “slices”, i.e. one image for each depth of field setting. Susanne Fagerlund reconstructs and then orchestrates the insects as models of her own reality by creating a final composite image on the computer. Each image may take up to several months to create. A sanctuary between reality and fiction In “Imaginary Friends” Susanne Fagerlund turns the loupe on herself reflected in things that cannot be perceived by the human eye, only detected using intuition and instrumental facets. The artist uses power and method to illuminate her metal fatigue and the displacement of mutilated self reflections. The artist’s choice of insects and methodological practices are not driven by a need to depict nature, but rather an urge to use objects to reveal and display her personal thoughts, frustrations, desires, state of mind and character traits. A desire to create a cabinet for manageable contours. “Imaginary Friends” is an artistic exploration of shapeless things that the eye/subject itself cannot define, and thus possesses menacing forms. “An extension of the small child trying to cope with fantasies about the unknown,” explains Susanne Fagerlund. As she in her childhood conquered fear by applying human attributes to the monsters under the bed. Conducted a dialogue with them, so they ended up being her imaginary friends. Edvard Thordén, Gallery