Tactile Frequencies. Tom Cullberg

A rich assemblage of the iconic, obscure, mythical and naïve, the paintings and painted wooden carvings composing Swedish born, South African based, Tom Cullberg’s cabinets immediately beckon us to come in closer and question what it is we think we understand. In the cabinets, each a world unto itself, the images and objects are engaged in a dialogue that shifts and deepens under one’s gaze. A montage of painted panels and wood carvings pull us into landscapes mythical and real; pan over old and contemporary buildings; and spark the mind with musical and literary inspirations. Inhabiting the scenes they silhouette, painted carvings—from tiny figures and vintage cars to analogue relics like watches, cassette tapes and book-spines —seem to be captured in a nostalgic loop of arrival and departure, connected to the paintings they foreground, yet also distinct.

Cullberg’s work evokes questions around the notions of time and place. Speaking to the distance between people, places and things, physically manifested on the shelves, the work also takes measure of that distance and in so doing, erases it. Existing in the present, it also references a past brimming both with yearning and stillness. A time capsule of places, known and unknown, artefacts of sometimes made up music, literature and popular culture, and pre-digital objects, it is in the juxtaposition of the pieces that connections emerge, reaching out to the viewer and asking, how did we get here and where will we go?