APPARITIONS

Speck Gallery is showing the haunting work of Erik Thien in his most recent exhibition titled APPARITIONS. The 35 paintings in this body of work explore the impressions, shadows, and "ghosts" that linger in the psyche of our individual lives or the society around us. These manifestations challenge our understanding of what is seen and unseen, what remains after tragedies and triumphs, or simply that which exists in our imaginations. 

Thien's figures are often ambiguous and don't represent a specific person; they are recurring images in his work. Thien draws on his childhood memories growing up in the desert landscape. Images from southwestern folk mythology, such as riders, birds, and horses, appear in the paintings and seem to create their own worlds. Thien weaves them into his paintings, where they can coexist as symbols, prayers, and memories. 

Figures, landscapes, folk mythology, and forms emerge and dissolve across layered surfaces, suggesting endurance, erosion, memory, and something veiled from the material world. The work reflects on the idea that we are immersed in immaterial realities that influence our lives, often without our awareness. The ethereal quality created in these pieces through the use of layering different art mediums on top of each other adds to this dilemma as well. 

"The idea I'm trying to illustrate–A ghost-like idea, is the concept that either things we don't see or things we can't see anymore, like memory or encounter– Something that was tangible once and now is not material, still affects you and has an effect on how you are today," says Thien.

While some of Thien's works offer concrete figures and environments, others vanish into texture, symbols, and gestures. The artist doesn't offer fixed interpretations, but challenges the viewer to draw their own connections between the works, inviting reflection and discovering meaning as they look.