‘Severance’ Art Explained

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Warning: The narrative ahead discloses plot points from Season 2, Episode 9 of “Severance,” currently available on Apple TV+. Be cautious if you wish to avoid spoilers.

“Severance” is known for its precise visual aesthetic, and that’s seen nowhere more clearly than within the surveilled halls of Lumon. Part of Lumon’s institutional power arises from its ability to make every employee adhere to the ethos of its founder, Kier Eagan, instilling a strict dedication to a mythology that blurs the lines between corporate culture and religion.

Lumon’s way of communicating the Eagan family’s ideals and beliefs is often through visual art. For the “Severance” artisans, using art to canonize the story of Lumon was “definitely intentional from the get-go and very important,” says Catherine Miller, the show’s prop master since the first season.

Art is everywhere in “Severance,” from Season 1’s O&D paintings and Perpetuity Wing wax figures establishing the Eagan history to the animation depicting the innie’s revolt that opens Season 2. Lumon uses visuals to create a specific way of presenting itself to the innies, whose bifurcated memories limit their understanding of a world beyond the office.

Miller emphasizes that “there is nothing random” about any of the artistic choices that go into shaping Lumon’s visual landscape.

“It all stems from this understanding that we, creatively, have about the history of Lumon as a corporation, what they’re trying to achieve and how they are trying to achieve it within these very specific frameworks,” Miller says. “We all keep each other in check to make sure that we’re within this original concept of what this company is, and how this company builds upon itself to achieve what it’s ultimate mission is.”

The artisans have back-and-forth discussions with creator Dan Erickson and executive producer/director Ben Stiller to take a description of an artwork in a script and develop it into something that fits “into the vision of the show,” says set decorator David Schlesinger, who joined “Severance” for Season 2.

Miller and Schlesinger spoke with EbMaster to break down some of the artworks that appear in Episode 9 and how they contribute to Lumon’s overall image.

“Kier Pardons His Betrayers”

“Kier Pardons His Betrayers” is a new painting that greets the innies in Season 2. Placed squarely in front of the elevator bank, the dramatic, grand scene of Kier Eagan showing mercy to four figures is a metaphor for the four refiners — Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro) and Dylan (Zach Cherry) — who are also “trapped up to their necks in the sand” following their use of the Overtime Contingency at the Season 1, Miller says.

The painting marks “a moment of forgiveness” in which Lumon is saying to the refiners that “Kier forgives you for what you’ve done,” Miller says. “It’s two-fold, as a lot of what Lumon artwork and practices are. On the surface, it’s forgiving, and on the underneath part, it’s maybe a warning that maybe next time you won’t be forgiven.”

The painting, which was illustrated and created by artist Danny Aviles, was inspired by Soviet-era propaganda art. The buildings in the background are a reference to the Salt’s Neck-based ether factory that Harmony Cobel worked in as a child, as revealed in Episode 8.

Stiller and production designer Jeremy Hindle were drawn to “deep, earthy reds and rusts” for the painting. The color scheme is rare for innies to see since their world typically features blue and green shades. Miller points out that the arrival of Ricken’s book, “The You You Are,” in Season 1 is the first time red is visible on the Severed floor. “It’s the spark of the revolution,” she says.

The color scheme also builds a sense of renewal, with the sun forming a halo on Kier’s head.

“It’s a new day,” Schlesinger says.

Ms. Huang’s Water Toy

In Episode 9, Mr. Milchick tells Ms. Huang that she must leave her position at the Jame Eagan Wintertide Fellowship prematurely. Ms. Huang is subsequently asked to follow an ancient ritual by using a statue of Jame Eagan to break her water game as a symbolic goodbye.

The idea behind the ring toss water toy was to give Ms. Huang a childlike distraction to match her actual age, despite her preternaturally professional nature.

The team decided to create a toy cell phone that resembles a miniature version of a regular-sized phone, similar to how children are often seen engrossed in their own mobile devices, as described by Miller.

Because water games aren’t often made in that size, the team “fabricated this from scratch, and modeled it after a real water toy, made it larger, put the Lumon logo on it,” Miller says. Penko Platikanov, who handles the show’s sculpted objects, “actually carved our little Kier swimmer and painted them by hand, and then we attached that into the toy. And it was practical. It really worked.”

As a movie buff, I, along with my fellow artisans, crafted 12 toys. However, we made sure to set aside two of them. After that, we took the remaining ten and went all out, destroying them in quite the spectacular fashion!

There was some initial difficulty getting the plastic to crack. “We went back and did a round of inserts, very close up, where I was actually the one taking the bust and smashing it so that we could get enough power underneath it or over it to actually have it smash up,” Miller says.

The team originally experimented with different designs for the toy, including one of Kier with a mohawk and one where his arm is extended Statue of Liberty-style. “But ultimately, Ben fell in love with this diver and the old-fashioned swimsuit that was in the water toy because he was in water,” Miller says.

Jame Eagan Wintertide Fellowship Bust

Ms. Huang’s statue, crafted from walnut and as weighty as it appears, is a modern rendition of Cobel’s identical award that marked her fellowship phase. Each trophy represents Jame Eagan’s age when bestowed upon him at the time. “In Episode 8, when Cobel retrieves her Wintertide Fellowship bust, Jame Egan is significantly younger. He was 40 years younger,” Miller explains, with Platikanov contributing to its creation as well.

Miller points out the striking contrast between the wooden carving and the plastic, and he notes that the imagery of the liquid leaking onto a handkerchief as it broke represents a powerful symbolism.

Miller highlights the sharp difference between the engraved wood and plastic, and he finds the scene of the liquid spilling onto a handkerchief when it shattered to be deeply symbolic.

Iceberg Painting in Milchick’s Office

Once Milchick takes over the Severed floor, Cobel’s former office gets a new look. Schlesinger says it was actor Tramell Tillman’s mention of icebergs as a symbol that inspired the artisans to include an iceberg painting behind his desk. With icebergs, “you don’t really know what’s underneath, much like ‘Severance,’” Schlesinger says.

Schlesinger added, ‘The small painting stood out significantly when we painted the wall blue.’ In the end, this is what we were left with. It’s a print on metal, and surprisingly, it turns out to be a painting of an iceberg in Newfoundland, which was where we filmed Episode 8.

The piece is by an artist named Lisa Lebofsky. Schlesinger says that multiple sizes were tested, but the larger versions “dominated too much space on the wall,” and “that negative space around it is really powerful.”

Break Room Posters

At the start of Season 2, the innies return to a break room transformed into a supposedly more fun environment. There are new posters, including one labeled “Hang in There” and portraying Dylan facilitating the Overtime Contingency, which was the only one that was scripted.

Having just one standouts can feel strange, as it draws significant focus and attention,” Schlesinger explains.

In summary, Erickson created the taglines, Aviles designed the posters, and Tansy Michaud refined the final designs.

The posters are Lumon’s “version of trying to motivate these people,” Schlesinger says.

They also serve the mission of trying to change Lumon’s image to the innies.

Miller explains that the design is inspired by Soviet-era aesthetics, reflecting Lumon’s aim to present themselves as unique and distinct from other refiners, he says.

The purple color scheme of the “Hang in There” poster matches the chairs in the break room, and is an example of the “Severance” artisans and creatives staying within a particular, recurring color palette throughout the set, according to Schlesinger.

Purple shows up in other significant moments.

“Going back to Season 1, [purple] was a color for the empty administrative space on the severed floor that Mark passes through when he’s giving Helly the tour back to MDR, and it was the first time we saw purple in there,” Miller says. “We saw it again when Mark and Helly went in there to have their intimate moment. And then it’s also now in the break room too. It’s interesting that that color is coming up in certain areas.”

Creating the “Severance” aesthetic involves sticking to a number of general guidelines such as pulling from a set of fonts and colors. But the types of artistic mediums that the series uses to portray Lumon varies and evolves, as the company itself finds new opportunities to convey its message to employees.

Miller explains that the goal was to show various aspects of Kier’s life by using diverse artistic styles that would effectively convey each stage.

In Episode 4’s Fourth Appendix, the innies get insights into Kier’s past, specifically an event from his life when he had a conflict with his brother Dieter Eagan.

The Fourth Appendix is styled after vintage fairytale books and the Grimms’ stories in particular, which can be “terrifying,” Miller says. “Some of them are eerie or left you with an uneasy feeling, and so Ben definitely wanted to lean into that direction because that seems very apropos for what Lumon would be.”

If Lumon were to spin a yarn, it would have an intriguing twist. Beneath the surface, a hint of danger would linger.

The Lumon art pieces usually carry a sinister feeling. The more absurd or humorous examples, like the animation of Irving that plays at his funeral, can also be disconcerting. “It’s whimsical,” Miller says. “But there’s a duality to it, because Irving is dead and innie Irving won’t come back. So there’s a fun bit to it, but then there’s also the Lumon-ism of it as well.”

The visual development of “Severance” is based on a keen understanding and implementation of Lumon’s brand identity, as stated by Schlesinger.

Conversations about the “Severance” world were crucial early on, according to Miller. “The culture of Lumon grew organically from understanding what this organization is and what the company does and us building those ground rules together early on,” she says.

The “Severance” crew meticulously attends to each visual element, even going as far as selecting costumes and props.

“That’s what’s so great about this show, is being in the room and being able to collectively understand and create these worlds that we’re building and have everybody’s understanding of it respected and grow upon it and build upon it and become more and more specific,” Miller says. “So that there isn’t just some random watch on a person for no reason.”

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2025-03-15 20:53