Saddo – A Stranger in the Garden | Interview

We got the chance to talk to Saddo about his solo show at BC Gallery in Berlin, running through April 25th, 2015 (opening hours: Wed-Sat, 1 pm – 6 pm).

‘A Stranger in the Garden / Mictlantecuhtli’, acrylics on canvas, 120 x 85 cm, 2015

‘Punisher of Broken Oaths / Orcus’, acrylics on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, 2015

In your exhibition at BC Gallery you highlight the symbols, stories and various ways in which death is represented in different cultures, religions, myths and traditions, some of them quite opposite in how they are perceived. What do you consider to be the most fascinating vision of death from the ones you present in your current solo show and why?

I find all of them very interesting, but what’s most fascinating is the fact that they’re all so different – from the well known Christian creepy and threatening Grim Reaper, to the Greek Hades, god of the Underworld, a passive deity with the role of maintaining the balance in the world. Or Thanatos, a daemon personification of death, represented as a winged boy, or a youth carrying a butterfly or a wreath of poppies. The god Nergal, in Mesopotamia, who was personified as a rooster or a lion, and was a god of war and pestilence, but also a solar deity, that of a destructive summer sun that brings drought and death. Egypt’s Anubis, who was an elegant, black jackal-headed god who had the role of weighing the heart of the deceased, and judge the fate of the soul. The wild Mictlantecuhtli, an Aztec god related to cruelty, blood, cannibalism and skulls, wearing a necklace of human eyeballs. Or Orcus, in Roman mythology, god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths, depicted as a mysterious hairy creature.

My own vision about death is rather dull, so probably that’s why I find all these myths and personifications of death extremely fascinating to explore and illustrate. And it’s also kinda helpful, it dresses the subject in all these different colors, shapes and patterns, it makes it less scary.

‘Lord of Death / Yama’, acrylics on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, 2015

‘Punisher of Broken Oaths / Orcus’, acrylics on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, 2015

‘Brother of Sleep / Thanatos’, acrylics on canvas, 120 x 85 cm, 2015

In today’s society, we feel that people are obsessed with death or rather with the fear of dying, and this extends to their loved ones and so on. What do you think about the way we perceive death today compared to the folk and mythological approach from the past? What about your own perception of life and death?

I couldn’t really tell much about the way people perceive death nowadays, I can only speak from my point of view. As I said, the fact that I don’t believe in any kind of god or deity, makes my own perception of death rather dull and simple, and that sometimes can be super scary and depressing. So probably that’s why I’m visually and culturally attracted towards myths, rituals, symbols, the ways in which people choose to personify death in different religions, I don’t care if it’s a blood spattered vision about death, or something mysterious or cosmic or kitschy or whatever, it is something… it’s better than plain nothingness.

Your works are mainly personifications of death. Why do you believe people tend to give a physical form to this experience? If you hadn’t used a figurative way of representing it, how would you have outlined this concept?

Probably because death makes no sense, it’s so simple and indescribable, that people started to personify it, thus denying its impossibility to be put into words or illustrated. So I guess the fear of dying, and the denial of death are the base for these personifications of death, for the stories related to them, for myths, culture, etc.

I don’t know how I would’ve touched the subject if I hadn’t used the figurative, illustrative way, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere close to it probably, because underneath all the layers, colors, patterns, and details, there’s something that can’t be put into words. I don’t think that I learned anything more about death by illustrating these deities, I don’t think that I understand the subject better, but illustrating it is my only way to try to deal with it, to dress it up and look at it through the filter of myths and art. It’s some sort of denial.

‘Lord of Death / Yama’, acrylics on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, 2015

Besides the Bunuel reference, regarding the title of the exhibition, why is death a “stranger” (and not a reflection/ a part of the self, for example) and what inspired you to focus on the garden as a metaphor or perhaps a passage way towards a new level of existence (or non-existence)?

I went with “A Stranger in the Garden” cause “stranger” is mysterious, it can be interpreted in different ways, it is rather clear that it stands for “death”, but the presence of the stranger can be viewed in many ways, it can be menacing, haunting, scary, overwhelming, intriguing, or something expected, even a desired encounter with a friend…

The garden is actually a metaphor for life, with all its colors and vibrancy, and underneath or right in the middle of all the noise and details,… the presence of this stranger.

‘Summer Sun / Nergal’, acrylics on canvas, 170 x 120 cm, 2015

Share some insights we’ve missed about the works in this series and the creative process behind them.

What I would like to mention is the fact that this series was the most challenging for me until now, the sizes of the pieces, the level of detail, the commitment to a series on a very specific subject, the technique which requires quite a bit of time. They are a bit different than what I was doing a couple of years ago, they’re more simple and edited, as a composition, but they’re more detailed, and a lot more thought and time went into making them.

For now I feel like I need a short break, to focus on some smaller, more commercial illustrations. But as soon as I have the energy to get involved in another bigger project, I’d love to try to paint some even bigger canvases, not because big is necessarily better, I just feel that some images would work better on a larger scale.

‘Weighing of the Heart / Anubis’, acrylics on canvas,120 x 85 cm, 2015

Finally, tell us more about your collaboration with BC Gallery.

It started last year, they invited Aitch and I to be part of a group show, and we’ve been talking since then, I visited them when I was in Berlin for another project, and they finally decided to invite me to have a solo show there. It was a bit scary at first, the gallery seems a bit big, and I didn’t know if I could handle that space all by myself. But after planning how many pieces I should have, what sizes, each one where to hang, stuff like that, even though it was challenging, it seemed doable.

And when I got in the space I realized that my memory played tricks on me and the space seems much bigger in my mind. Everything went nice and smooth and super professional thanks to Nick and Phillipp, and the pieces actually looked much better than they did in my working room. I’m more than pleased about the show, it was such a good mix of the space, the managing of the gallery, the work itself, the sizes of the pieces, the way they were hanged, and the reaction of all the people and friends who attended the opening.

Also, Berlin was awesome, I got to paint a small mural at Urban Spree thanks to Nick and Pascal, I got to meet lots of awesome people and old friends. And Aitch and I walked around the city a lot and had lots of burritos…, and visited the Gemäldegalerie.

Mural @ Urban Spree

Photos from the opening

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