Study for Manta Ray (2016) by Sara-Vide Ericson is one of two works in the Cabinet Room made by the artist. It is part of a series of works, in which we see a figure draped in what appears to be a wet black blanket, moving in the waters near the bank of a shallow lake. The figure is depicted in different postures in each painting, caught mid-movement. The title of the work – Study for Manta Ray – reveals the origin of the shapes and movements depicted: the movements of a manta ray.

Study for Manta Ray by Sara Vide Ericsson. Installation view. Photo: Galleri Magnus Karlsson.

Manta Ray. Photo by Diego Delso, Creative Commons.

Study for Manta Ray was exhibited in 2016 in a group show at Hellvi Kännungs – Galleri Magnus Karlsson's project room on Gotland. The exhibition was called Jag ser ett mörker | I see a Darkness and presented works by artists Roger Andersson, Idun Baltzersen, Sara-Vide Ericson and Klara Kristalova.

"The subjects in the exhibition’s works carry a pain, but also holds a strength and purposefulness. What do they see in the dark? Which worlds or dreams can offer them peace or refuge? There is also a trigger and increased vitality when on the ledge facing an impending darkness, in the tension between security and disaster. The original meaning of the word Apocalypse is unveiling or disclosure, and the basic principle is that there is a better option beyond the darkness. Behind the curtain, beyond the grave or beyond the teenage angst. In a state of vulnerability and disorientation, examination of darkness is what can carry us forward. A vision in the dark."

Sara-Vide Ericson (d.1983) studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2004–2009). She lives and works in Hälsingland, Sweden. With exhibitions in Sweden and internationally she has been established as one of the most influential artists of her generation in Sweden.