Kerry Skarbakka's dramatically gestured imagery, is quite the contemporary take on the art of posing. In his series, The Struggle to Right Oneself, Skarbakka's photographs of himself performing back bowing maneuvers are both a physical and aesthetic accomplishment, placing the edgy and rugged muscular movements found in, perhaps, vert-ramp skateboarding into a context of Escheresquely defined gravity, where subjects are broadly stepping across vertical walls, up balconies, off of verandas and bridges, or simply through windows. These might seem the stills of a very masochistic stuntman on the set, but they are in point of fact feats of photography and convey strong ideas.
Against the backdrop of visually beautiful, if not ordinary scenes, are impossible, yet casual gymnastics performed by everyman type characters -- resonating Skarbakka's inherent theme that everyday life is a death-defying act. Referencing the crucifixion and 70's action sitcom stunts in turn, the characters seem self sacrificial for no apparent reason. When falling from a building, Skarbakka's subject's gestures do not imply intention or defeat, as in a suicide attempt. They instead exude a composure of certainty and tense comfort, like cats aware that they will land on their feet. The cathartic resolution then is not shown but implied by the finely captured gestures of the actor/artist. Death is defied ultimately, even if the risk of life never really had to be there in the first place, as in the apartment bound robe clad chef in Kitchen. Further reading then implies that the edge traversed so closely is not physical in nature but mental, what we see is not what the characters are doing -- it is how they are feeling. In creating the incredibly kinetic stills, Skarbakka is perhaps risking his own life and limb to convey, ultimately through metaphor of gesture, what it feels like to dread the ordinary moments in our day to day affairs, and to recognize that that struggle alone makes all of us fall guys. For further viewing, visit http://www.skarbakka.com/portfolios/struggle.htm.
