Soma: Newborn

The intense chromatic bursts in Soma are partly a continuation of Erik Swahn's work with colour and abstraction, as seen in Fields (2023). At the same time, they mark a departure from his more geometrically focused work, such as Farbteiler (2021), Punktwelt (2022), and Funktor (2023).

In Soma (Greek for "body"), both form and colour have dissolved into their smallest particles – a fine chromatic dust. In their place are nebulous clouds in a state of becoming, rather than possessing a final form – suggestive rather than representational. The formations in Soma simultaneously evoke anatomic, cellular, or even atomic structures of the microcosm, as well as celestial bodies of the macrocosm.

The bodies in Soma are composed of colour, light and darkness. They emerge from a dark aether as embodiments of pure randomness, shaped by simple generative rules. Some appear as constellations or configurations of matter; others consist of multiple bodies, attracted and repelled by each other – some of them colliding.

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