Sandy Skoglund

Sandy Skoglund (b. September 11, 1946)

Sandy Skoglund is an American photographer and installation artist best known for her elaborately staged, surrealist photographs and artworks that blend sculpture, installation, and photography. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Skoglund studied art and art history at Smith College before pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Iowa, where she delved into filmmaking, multimedia art, and printmaking.

Emerging in the art scene during the 1980s, Skoglund’s works are characterized by their intricately designed sets often filled with repetitive, pattern-like objects or figures. One of her most recognized pieces is “Revenge of the Goldfish” (1981), a photograph depicting a room filled with oversized goldfish swimming around children.

Skoglund’s work often merges the ordinary with the fantastic, creating dreamlike scenes that are both familiar and eerily unsettling. She meticulously constructs her sets and installations, sculpting and arranging every element before photographing the final scene. The resulting images are vibrant, detailed, and often tinged with a sense of whimsy or menace.

Throughout her career, Skoglund has explored themes of consumerism, the natural world, and the ordinary turned extraordinary. By blurring the lines between the real and the imagined, her art invites viewers to question their perceptions and challenge their sense of reality.

As of my last update in 2022, Sandy Skoglund continues to produce work and remains a significant figure in the realms of contemporary photography and installation art.