Morten Schelde

Morten Schelde

BETWEEN REALITY AND DREAM

Morten Schelde works in the field between the poetic and the bizarre, creating colourful and visually fascinating drawings which are both endearing and unnerving. Drawing is a traditional medium which Schelde experiments with and utilises in brand new ways.

Red Hand in the Sky, 2006

Description
Light and dark clouds fill the drawing’s surface with dramatic and jagged shapes. The cloud formations are executed in pencil in varying grey nuances. In the centre of the picture hovers a severed hand, dripping with blood, its palm outstretched towards the viewer. It is drawn in red coloured pencil. The position of the hand stops the viewer’s gaze from walking further into the sky.

About the work
Red Hand in the Sky is drawn with a wealth of details and great textural effects. The jagged contours of the dramatic cloud formations are precisely rendered. Schelde has used his own right hand as model to accurately depict the hand’s outline, lines and depressions and to utilise the three-dimensional effects of the shadows. He is also letting us see into his own palm, adding to the work an intimacy and a presence that clashes with the monumental drama of the subject.
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On Schelde's work in general
In his colourful and fanciful drawings Schelde abandons realistic portrayal. He suspends gravity, twists perspective, distorts the proportions and juxtaposes subjects in unfamiliar ways. Often he also lets abstract areas of colour and simple pencil lines propel onto the surface, experimenting with the colours as independent and detached from the subject. In employing these devices Schelde places his works in the borderland between realism and fantasy. The works oscillate between the familiar and the fantastic, questioning our usual perception of reality.
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Litterature
"Manual til dansk samtidskunst", (Lisbeth Bonde & Mette Sandbye), 2006
"Rødt Chok", (Lisbeth Bonde), kunstonline.dk, 2005
"Morten Schelde – Treasure Island, Dear Tiger!", Museum der Bildenden Künste, 2006
"Louisiana Magasin", (Mette Marcus), 2004
"Children of Suburbia II" (Eske Kath), Kopenhagen, 2000