Merging a variety of mediums, Sandy Skoglund creates tableaux using unconventional materials that she then photographs, incorporating live models within swarms of fabricated objects or sculpted animals. Her hauntingly familiar environments bring together everyday objects, vibrant color, and animal imagery, highlighting the conflict between our human-made world and the natural environment in addition to ongoing dualities present in contemporary life.
This book, bearing the same title as a 2025 exhibition at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, includes exhibition installation views of wallpaper enlargements from Skoglund's iconic photographs—a first for the artist. The wallpaper's ephemerality, existing only for the duration of the McNay's exhibition, makes this publication even more important. Other artworks appearing in the exhibition—including The Outtakes series—also appear on these pages.
Featured is a conversation between the artist and editor and writer Laura van Straaten. Skoglund's candid responses about what inspires and motivates her artwork, along with descriptions of her studio practice, give readers further insight into the artist's working process.
Sandy Skoglund (born 1946 in Weymouth, USA) is a conceptual artist known for her intricate artworks. Her interest in photography and fascination with popular culture led her to create striking coloured photographic tableaux that often raise questions about social and cultural norms. Via her artworks, some of which involve animals or models, Skoglund fashions surreal, dreamlike worlds, adding everyday objects to turn her images into fully-fledged immersive environments. Her work uses colour to highlight the relationship between artifice, illusion and reality.
