Michael Thomsen’s creations straddle the boundaries between painting, collage, and sculpture. The vibe of the midway is so strong you can almost hear the carnies calling you to a ring toss game. Gothic gilt mirrors, lights, lurid pinks, blues, and yellows abound. Carousel horses leap from the wall and fortunetellers peddle the promise of revealing your destiny. Each piece is a self-contained microcosm, peopled by painstakingly selected found objects and laden with symbology whose meaning is dictated by dream logic, rather than the rules of the waking world.

In Thomsen’s Wonderlands, you get to be Alice. Get close enough to touch it, spend some time looking under the horns jutting out of the middle, and feel around inside the nooks and crannies behind the carousel horse. Turn a nondescript crank on the side of Clock and the tinny melodies of a hidden music box emerge from within; peer closely into the crystal ball at the center of Round About and you’ll find a tiny painting tucked inside. The imagery of Thomsen’s work hails straight from the carnival lurking in the recesses of our childhood wishes and fears. Menace lives cheek by jowl with the sublime, harlequins and fortunetellers, cherubs and horned beasties, mirrors and gears—they all bark for your attention. The imagery and structures of each piece are mind-bogglingly complex, but resonate with an inchoate sense of order all the same.

>>Read the story behind Thomsen’s creations in this related profile on mnartists.org.

About the artist: Michael Thomsen was born in the shadow of the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, to a family that included auctioneers, painters, circus performers, a clock and violinmaker, and a former member of the Lawerence Welk ensemble. With a slightly demented toy maker’s fondness for odd mechanics and disturbing juxtapositions, he uses found objects scavenged from thrift stores, alleys, rummage sales, and junk drawers to create a multilayered dream reality.

If you visited the November exhibition, Festival of Appropriation, at the Soap Factory you likely saw a number of Thomsen's pieces on display. His work is currently showing as part of a group exhibition presented at the prestigious Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida December 6-7. Inquiries about specific pieces may be directed to Flanders Contemporary Art Gallery or Rogue Buddha Gallery.

ZOOM IN: Artist of the Fantastic, Michael Thomsen
Read the accompanying artist profile and get the skinny on the back story to these marvelous creations.

access+ENGAGE Issue 24: What Dreams Are Made Of
Read the web version of the issue of access+ENGAGE (mnartists.org's twice monthly emailed arts magazine) in which this profile originally appeared.

Michael Thomsen's work on mnartists.org
See a portfolio of the artist's work on his individual mnartists.org artist pages.

Michael Thomsen's website
Visit the artist's website for more information and to keep track of upcoming projects.

Diverse Styles at Art-a-Whirl: 4 at Rogue Buddha Gallery
Read a review by Alex Starace from a 2006 exhibition featuring Thomsen's work.

Susannah Schouweiler on mnartists.org

access + ENGAGE, Mixed Media