The Back is an installation by Emily Quandahl that transforms the interior of a U-Haul truck into a soft-walled environment made from cut and hand-stitched paintings. The walls, floor, seating, and pillows are covered in reassembled fragments of past works, creating a space built entirely from painted material.
The installation invites viewers into the imagined space between the back of a painting and the wall, an area that is usually unseen. By turning paintings into an inhabitable structure, The Back shifts painting from a flat surface into a physical environment and encourages a more tactile way of engaging with the work. Soft elements, including pillows made from painted fabric, invite visitors to sit and spend time inside the space.
Presented as part of You Haul Art Crawl (June 2025), The Back was one of five pop-up galleries housed in moving trucks that made multiple stops throughout Northeast Minneapolis, activating temporary sites and offering new ways for the public to encounter art beyond traditional gallery spaces.
