Anna Ridderstad: SEDIMENTS

Prospect Art presents Anna Ridderstad: SEDIMENTS at the TRYST International Art Fair

August 7 – August 9, 2026

• Hours: VIP Opening on Friday, Aug 7 (4:00 PM – 6:00 PM); Saturday & Sunday, Aug 8–9 (12:00 PM – 6:00 PM)

• Location: Del Amo Crossing, 21535 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503

• Admission: Free

ABOUT THE WORK

SEDIMENTS is an installation work built from movable walls on wheels that create a labyrinth-like entrance to the exhibition space. On the walls, a film is projected, broken by the shadows of the visitors, and wooden sculptures hanging in chains also cast shadows on the walls. For the TRYST International Art Fair, the work will consist of a video projection and a hanging sculpture. The work is dedicated to Skedemosse, a place that during the Iron Age was a very important ritual site on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea. Here, a large population gathered every autumn for ritual horse races, shared meals, and offerings in the water. A total of 38 human sacrifices have been uncovered, but primarily horses were given to the gods, along with other animals. Several times, large amounts of war equipment were also lowered into the water, including today’s most renowned finds: seven large, heavy gold rings.

The wetland as a liminal place is a powerful conceptual symbol in Nordic tradition, initially viewed as a dangerous and unpredictable refuge for mythological beings, later regarded as a threat to agriculture through cold, moisture, and fog. The wetland is the opposite of order, as it embodies “both and” or “neither nor”—not solid ground, not fully water. Marshlands and swamps were for a long time charged sites for crossing boundaries and engaging with uncontrollable forces. Offering sacrifices to the gods through the water’s mirror was an important ritual tradition that continued until Christianity took over.

Skedemosse was once a place familiar and meaningful to everyone around: a place for the manifestation of power, collective excitement, perhaps brutal ecstasy, celebration, and exchange. Yet, the memory of the rituals faded so completely that they were not mentioned in any written sources. When farmers in the late 19th century started plowing up tons of bones from the now drained swamp, no one understood why. It was only in 1951 that the first archaeological excavation took place, revealing the site’s significance. A place with a very charged history was totally erased—both physically and from human memory.

The intention with SEDIMENTS was to work with both time and place, and to create a secluded zone within the gallery space that embraced both the brutality, the charge, and the constant change of this particular place. By letting the visitors´ shadows break the projection, the here and now is also a part of this work. The sculptures are made from alder trees that have lain in lake water for several years, turning almost black. The suspension from iron rings and chains was inspired by Iron Age finds. The film was partly shot at present-day Skedemosse, and partly at a place that might resemble the lake or wetland that once existed at the site.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Anna Ridderstadt(b. 1976) is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and works with installation, sculpture, and photography. She is involved in the artist-run scene in Sweden, with solo exhibitions at Gallery 54 (Gothenburg) and Konstnärshuset (Stockholm), and has participated in group exhibitions worldwide. Anna Ridderstad is part of the artist-run Gallery ID:I in Stockholm and the residency organization Nordiska Konstförbundet Malongen.