Henrik Delehag's iconographic style reimagines familiar themes in this exhibition of new work. Themes of Muscle Memory reverberate on many levels. It describes Delehag's instinctive and physical response to the process of creativity. It serves as a metaphor for the way the body keeps score as time moves relentlessly onwards. Muscle Memory encompasses all that is subconsciously learnt, remembered and held within our bodies, manifested in our behaviours and the rituals which give shape and meaning to our lives.
Delehag channels his expertise in graphic design and typography to create a visual vocabulary. His source material comes from his fascination with human expression, influenced by his interest in Māori and tribal cultures from time spent living in New Zealand. With hawkish observation, Delehag sketches the faces and postures of people he encounters in everyday situations. His output is prolific. Sketchbooks serve as diary entries, bursting with the vibrant imagery and ideas which fuel his craft.
Born from these observations, Delehag references Hegel "The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history." Not as a lament, but as a statement; as the starting point for his visual study and analysis.
Working with ink on paper, mixed media and canvas, we are taken on a unique graphical journey laden with potent symbolism and emotion. Delehag embraces the potency of black and white to connect and hold space. Colour is used only when it adds meaning, not for decorative purposes. The result is sensual, playful and painful. Provocative, arousing and contradictory.