Artist: Jana Schröder

Skarstedt presents M.I.G.H.T., Jana Schröder’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and her debut in London. The exhibition features a selection of new paintings across three different series: SYNACLIPS, FRONTRACKS SYNACLIPS SPE and CORTEXOPHIS.

Schröder’s latest paintings serve, first and foremost, to explore the Metamorphosis in Generative Human Thinking (M.I.G.H.T.), an acronym she devised that also evokes ambiguity and doubt. Reflecting on the ongoing technological revolution, Schröder draws parallels between neurological communication and the overwhelming flood of information that permeates our culture today. As technology advances, the analogue world struggles to keep pace, embodying the tension between the digital landscape and our cognitive processes. This exhibition examines the impact of digital media on our neural networks, revealing how constant engagement reshapes our perceptions, attention spans, and modes of understanding.

Each painting starts ‘brutishly’, and the following decisions ‘narrow things down and become more and more intentional’, Schröder explains. Working patiently and meditatively, she eschews objectivity in favour of rhythmic compositions, using music as an essential tool to link auditory reception to visual abstraction. Occasionally, she’ll let a podcast play in the background, which functions as an artificial tinnitus for her to contend with. Many of her series titles are inspired by the nervous system, revealing her deep fascination with its workings. For instance, the SYNACLIPS series combines 'synapse' - the connection point between neurons that enables communication - with 'clips', hinting at snippets of information or digital content. Rendered in black and white, SYNACLIPS L1 conjures anatomical associations, inviting the viewer to reflect upon the complex challenges of modern perception.

Using a palette of pinks, greens, yellows, and blues, Schröder creates intricate biomorphic shapes that drift and coalesce as if suspended in water. Her mesmerising abstractions capture the fragmentation and disarray that arise from constant sensory exposure, which disrupts the brain’s ability to sustain a coherent sense of identity. Among the series in this exhibition is CORTEXOPHIS, a name merging 'cortex' - the brain’s outermost layer of nerve cell tissue - with 'Ophidia', a reference to a group of snakes. Chosen for their uncomfortable associations with deceit and danger, reptilian imagery recalls the Genesis story of the Fall of Man, where human consciousness first ‘metamorphosed’. The subtle, shimmering texture of snake scales is captured in CORTEXOPHIS L1, a monumental painting saturated with a light green hue, which is one of the few colours capable of translucent passages.

The third series on display is titled FRONTRACKS SYNACLIPS SPE. It merges the SYNACLIPS series with the German words ‘Frondienst’, meaning ‘forced labour’, and ‘Rakel’, which translates to ‘squeegee’ or ‘window cleaning blade’ in English. Schröder links these terms to highlight the risks of undeclared special effects in painting, intertwining notions of forced labour with dishonest practices. Instead, the artist advocates for ‘painting against the effect’.

Jana Schröder reflects on our perception and concentration in a rapidly changing world. She asks us to consider the extent of our consciousness, ruminating on the experiences that do not stick in our memories, and how these unconscious experiences shape our engagement. In essence, she suggests the artist’s mind is fractured, owing to the fragility of our cognitive processes