new paintings by erika jaeggli
GIANT RUNT
FORT WORTH, TX
FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 15, 2025
Giant Runt Gallery presents the latest body of work by Dallas-based artist Erika Jaeggli in a solo exhibition, which is an exploration of the physical and psychological landscapes hidden beneath the earth's surface. Opening February 1, this exhibition marks a profound evolution in Jaeggli’s practice, blending her deep cave research with her distinctive approach to landscape painting.
For the past several years, Jaeggli has immersed herself in the depths of cave systems in Texas, Tennesee and New Mexico. Through a unique combination of scientific inquiry and artistic expression, she has translated her experiences within caves into a new series of oil paintings that reimagine the landscape genre. The works offer viewers intimate, interior perspectives of the cave’s geological features, transforming natural formations into abstract, emotional landscapes.
Jaeggli’s approach goes beyond representations of the cave environment; instead, she views the cave as a living, breathing entity—an interior world that exists parallel to the external landscapes we typically encounter. The paintings feel bodily, with bulging forms and fleshy colors. With a detailed attention to light and shadow, Jaeggli's oil paintings reflect the dynamic interplay between the known and the unknown, between the visible and the hidden.
Through these new works, Jaeggli challenges traditional notions of landscape painting, shifting focus from expansive vistas to intimate, internal landscapes that speak to the unseen forces shaping our natural world. Following in the lineage of artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and George Condo, Jaeggli’s works are interior expressions of physical landscape and objects. Her work explores themes of transformation, time, and the symbiotic relationship between the human body and the earth’s geological forces. The paintings speak to the profound, often overlooked complexity of our surroundings—whether in the stillness of a cave or the natural world above.
“I’m interested in the cave as both a literal and metaphorical space,” says Jaeggli. “It’s a place of extreme interiority—physically, psychologically, and spiritually. It’s an archive of time, memory, and transformation. These works are an attempt to engage with that profound sense of interiority, of being within the earth itself, while also conveying the external beauty and mystery of the landscapes that surround us. Being in a cave feels like being inside a human body, and this experience has evoked a deep empathy and compassion for the earth within me.”
The opening reception on February 1 offers an opportunity to meet the artist and engage in a discussion about her process and how the work transforms our understanding of landscape painting in the contemporary context.
