Gathering Paradise by Sandy Skoglund

Like many of installation artist and photographer Sandy Skoglund’s surrealist views of domestic spaces, this scene of squirrels running riot across a patio suggests a frenetic anxiety that bubbles beneath the placid appearance of suburban life. 

Skoglund meticulously constructs room-size theatrical sets—in this case, complete with sculpted squirrels—which she then photographs.

The external chaos begins to proliferate within the home as animals are seen inside the kitchen . . .

. . . while the three humans are either unnoticing or unconcerned.

The cracked ground and charred texture of the furniture gives a sense that the scene is actively deteriorating.

Sandy Skoglund (American, born 1946), Gathering Paradise, 1991, dye coupler print, 47 x 60-1/2 inches, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Henderson, III, 1991.270. © Sandy Skoglund.