‘Severance’ Art Explained: The Meaning Behind Lumon’s Kier Paintings, Break Room Posters and Ms. Huang’s Water Toy

variety.com:

Abigail Lee SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 9 of “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+. “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.