Oda Iselin Sønderland, “The Will”
watercolour & gouache on paper, 2024
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Oda Iselin Sønderland, “The Will”
watercolour & gouache on paper, 2024
I've always called this picture, which I took almost 15 years ago, the Skeleton Tree. I don't know why; It doesn't look like a skeleton. I guess it was so utterly void of foliage that it stuck out from the other trees around it. That must have been the vision it impressed upon me at the time, because every time I come across this picture I think to myself, "Ah, the Skeleton Tree." Kitchener, Ontario Canada. 10/10/30. D.e.D.
15.06.2025
Winter at Karlskrona, Sweden 🇸🇪 2021
Current 93 and Nick Cave - Patripassian
Ghosteen (the album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) makes a lot more sense when you've heard this, for instance
The thematic and stylistic parallels are undeniable
Also: did someone say Jesus Alone?
Yeah
A stream of consciousness about Nick Cave’s music
I’m tipsy but I really want to document this so I’ll type it here:
Since discovering Nick Cave and his most recent albums - Carnage, Ghosteen, Skeleton Tree, Push the Sky Away, it’s changed my life significantly. About the way I view myself, view grief, view the world.
O Children was the first song I heard, from the Harry Potter film. I liked the song but that was it. Then I heard the song Push The Sky Away on the radio and I had it on repeat for the next 2 weeks. It was so calming, so grounding, I had never listened to anything like it.
Going into his trilogy discography, Mermaids from Push The Sky Away caught my attention and became my favourite song, it was like experiencing something ethereal. Then I listened to Skeleton Tree and fell in love with Girl In Amber. I didn’t know what it was about until I read Faith, Hope, and Carnage. Then followed Ghosteen which hit me like a train. His son, only 14 years old, had died, and this album was an expression of his grief. He did it so well that I thought someone I loved with all my heart had died. The lyrics were the most beautiful I’d ever heard, especially in Sun Forest: ‘Come on everyone, come on everyone, a spiral of children climb up to the sun. To the sun, to the sun, and on each golden rung’... it shook me. And Waiting For You: ‘Your body is an anchor, never asked to be free, just want to stay in the business of making you happy’. I went through the whole process of grief even though I had no one to grieve over. The empathy I felt was unparalleled.
Now I’m listening to the album Carnage. Particularly the songs Carnage and Balcony Man. They fill me with such peace that I haven’t felt in a long time. Carnage makes me feel otherworldly, like I’m travelling somewhere full of magic. Balcony Man leaves me feeling uplifted through my grief and sadness. I relate it to my mental and physical illnesses: ‘This morning is amazing and so are you... what doesn’t kill you makes you crazier’. It reminds me that I can feel happiness even in my pain and my insanity, no matter how fleeting, it still exists and it matters and deserves to be said to the world.
I can confidently say that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are singlehandedly getting me through my tough times. Not exactly getting me through it, but soundtracking the process. Even as I’m typing this, I’m dealing with a lot of stress brought on by something sudden and unexpected but I’ve got my Nick Cave playlist playing and it’s making each keystroke easier. I owe a lot to this man, his grief, his suffering, his sheer talent, and I don’t doubt that his music will play a significant part in my life for years to come