Smokestack

The two protagonists of the etching Smokestack are surreal beings whose relationship to each other remains obscure to the viewer, despite the clues that Nordström has scattered around the composition like stage props. Two musical instruments lie abandoned in the foreground while the two figures smoke outside some inner city apartment blocks. The diminutive woman is almost puppet-like compared to the man. The playful approach to proportion and perspective is a key feature of Nordström’s motifs; perhaps the disparate scale of the protagonists’ bodies refers to traditions in art history in which the size of a person’s depiction reflected their social status; perhaps they are just figures from a dream-sequence that defy analysis.
Jockum Nordström’s practice encompasses a variety of media, interlinked by references and common visual themes. The musical instruments in the foreground allow associations with Nordström’s background as a musician, as well as his sculptural practice, specifically his kinetic sculptures which make sound through movement.