Spit & Swallow

Spit & Swallow

The work immediately stands out through its unusual, elongated vertical format. The background is painted in a vivid yellow and covered with tile like shapes in blood red. Their arrangement appears deliberately irregular and partly smeared, creating a disturbing, almost eerie atmosphere.
At the center of the image is a human figure with her mouth wide open. A glossy, threedimensional burgundy beam stretches across more than 2/3 of the image, striking directly into the person’s mouth. At the point where the beam enters the mouth, the surface of the image has visibly peeled away. This creates the impression that the force of the impact is damaging the image itself, breaking away part of its surface.
The figure seems to submit to the process almost without resistance. Although the beam acts upon her with considerable force, her face shows no clearly recognizable expression of fear or resistance. Her greyish skin is particularly striking, conveying a sense of exhaustion, lifelessness, or inner depletion.
The beam can be understood as a symbol of external influences (the emotions of others, experiences, expectations, social pressure, or events) that act upon us from the outside. The figure appears to take all of these influences into herself against her will, she swallows them. The title “Spit or Swallow”, however, opens up a second, opposing interpretation. When the image is turned upside down, the perception of the depicted action changes: it begins to look as though the figure is vomiting and expelling the beam from herself. What previously appeared to be passive absorption suddenly becomes an active act of letting go.
The seemingly helpless figure therefore becomes an empowered one, capable of deciding what she allows to remain within her and what she chooses to reject. “Spit or Swallow” thus becomes a question of self determination, setting boundaries, and our own ability to influence what shapes us from the outside.

Details 

• Artist: Milena Sündermann
  
• Title: Always Watching the Universe Through Sunglasses I
  
• Year: 2019
  
• Medium: Mixed Media
  
• Dimensions: 70 x 30 x 2 cm
  
• Original artwork
• Signed on backside