Cornelia Hediger

From “The Future is Canceled” series

I’m becoming more and more infatuated with Cornelia Hediger’s work. Something about it (perhaps her blatant, unabashed expression of self) moves me and terrifies me and fascinates me all at once. Hediger has this awesome ability to simultaneously portray a sense of whimsicality/humor and human vulnerability (in an ‘I’m trying to make sense of my self” kind of way). But I digress…

The series “The future is canceled” features an empty, flattened figure clad in a houndstooth skirt, white tights and clunky black shoes. She appears in various indoor/outdoor situations, interacting with real people in her lifeless, sackly state. This particular image caught my attention, for it appears to be one of the few images from the series that seems to be directly referencing the (artist’s?) self. A ghostly figure looking out at an empty human sack? Sounds like a focus on dissatisfaction/conflict with the external world, or maybe even identity (though perhaps the use of the mirror is making my mind jump straight to that conclusion). I’m imaging what Hediger was feeling when she thought of this concept, what internal issues could have potentially prompted this metaphorical vision of an empty person.

A nearly square image, the frame has a somewhat narrow space, most of which is taken up by the bed/figure in the foreground. Despite (or enhanced by, depending on a viewer’s personal taste) its staggered depth of field, the image is well balanced, with the foreground subject on the left leading a viewing eye to glance between the lamp, windows, mirror, etc. (presumably lingering on the mirror longer than anything else). Also on the back wall, the rocking chair seems to be moving (evident by the motion blur), hinting at something that once was there, something that once existed. A relation to the figure in the mirror, perhaps? I wonder if Hediger left that open for interpretation.

Hediger often will use a neutral color scheme and toss in one or two accent colors. It’s interesting how she chooses not to do that in this particular image. Her use of bright accents would usually be the one of the first aesthetics to catch my eye, so I find myself approaching her technique a little differently. Instead, I’m noticing the use of lighter colors to emphasize the image’s darker colors. The pale yellow walls behind the black frame of the mirror makes it pop, same with the rocking chair against the radiator, the black shoes filled with empty white stockings. I feel like all of this was very intentional. Something I also find interesting about Hediger’s technique is how her bizarre, surreal images never seem to be too over the top. She’s very smart about it, how she seems to present more inquiries for the viewer with a tiny coating, a seamless glaze, of subtlety. By subtlety, I don’t mean minimalism. How do I define subtlety (Or rather, subtlety when it’s done right)? I’m still trying to understand it. I think there’s a secret to this craft, because when it works, it really works. A conceptual idea can be very over the top, it’ll have these vibrant colors, emotions, feelings, bleeding together until there’s nothing left but grey. Sometimes it’s messy and unreadable, but when it’s done well the grey speaks vividly. I think that’s subtlety, the ability to paint colors with a select palate of grey hues. Like screaming under water—it’s quieter, muted, but so much more unsettling; a harder impact.