AN EXHIBITION, THAT IS MY DIARY FROM THE POLAR EXPEDITION ARTofMELT
Invited by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, I journeyed across the Arctic Ocean aboard the icebreaker Oden between May 7th and June 15th, 2023. Journeys where artists participate in expeditions connect to a long tradition. The desire to explore the unknown, the relentless curiosity, the wish to map, observe, possess. The first artists to participate in the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat’s art program were Lars Lerin and Svenerik Jakobsson. The expedition took place in Antarctica during 1988/89. I am the 37th artist to participate. In my luggage, I had four small books with watercolor paper. By painting at least one watercolor daily, I got to know the boat, the crew, the researchers, the sea, the ice, and the polar bears. In the exhibition at Sundsvalls Museum, I present watercolors, notes, and objects related to the ARTofMELT expedition. Opening on March 16th at 12:00 PM. The exhibition runs from March 16th to June 9th, 2024.
EXHIBITING MY WORK ABOUT JON AND JONAS AT BÆRUM KUNSTHALL, NORWAY
In the exhibition I present discoveries I have recreated through conversations with two 18th-century explorers. My acquaintance with Jonas Falck was established in 2014 during a journey to Lapland and deepened during a stay at the Bergmangården on Fårö in 2016. Conversations with Jon Brand began in 2023 during an expedition over the Arctic Ocean – as the artist aboard the icebreaker Oden, I was part of a research expedition, invited by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. The exhibition runs between Feb 15 – Mars 10, 2024.
”Vattenvarelser”, pediatric care unit of Huddinge Hospital
“Water Creatures/Vattenvarelser,” a public art commission that I recently completed at the pediatric care unit of Huddinge Hospital, draws inspiration from the nature studies conducted by Jonas Falck. Living in the late 18th century, he operated in a landscape of possibilities. The installation is spread throughout the entire care unit. There are 16 patient rooms, including 8 isolation rooms. Each patient room features a unique painting of a water creature. Additionally, two larger wall sections depict underwater themes in the corridors.
The pediatric ward is a place where many children and their families unfortunately spend far too much time. Therefore, it feels especially meaningful to create art for these individuals, offering them an escape to mentally travel to another world, to dream away, to encounter the unknown, to marvel, and to fantasize.
PARTICIPATING IN THE TRAVELING EXHIBITION EXPEDITION KONST, LULEÅ KONSTHALL
As the artist who most recently participated in a polar expedition with Oden, I’m included in Expedition Konst, an exhibition with artists who participated in research expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. I´m exhibiting alongside Bigert & Bergström, Josef Bull, Dascha Esselius, Svenerik Jakobsson, Bo Landin, Lars Lerin, Efva Lilja, Hanna Ljungh, Johan Petterson and Sigrid Sandström. The exhibition is made in collaboration with the Polar Research Secretariat. Expedition Konst runs between September 2 – November 5, 2023.
“Islands in reality”, a group exhibition with TEGEN2 at gallery Verkligheten in Umeå, runs between August 25 and September 16, 2023. The exhibition directs its focus towards both actual and symbolic islands. In the exhibition I will show work from the expedition, on the icebreaker Oden to the Arctic Ocean – drawings of underwater ridges, depicted as islands. I’m also showing work created alongside Jonas Falck – studies of extinct aquatic creatures from the island Fårö. I’m exhibiting alongside Nils Claesson, Dror Feiler, Antonie Grahamsdaughter and Gunilla Sköld Feiler.
THE FINDING I SOLHEM – ART COMMISSION IN SÖDERTÄLJE
Public commisson at Solhem förskola (kindergarten) in Glasberga/Södertälje. Collaboration with Annika Petersson.
If you listen carefully, you can hear tales of the trolls who used to live in the Glasberga area, and of how they are still buried in the mountain. About a hundred years ago, findings that strengthened the theory began to be uncovered around the area. You see, when the sun hits the troll, it turns to stone. But no need to be afraid, symbols will help keep the troll in place (like runes for protection and strength, the hamsa, and next to the fist is a rungalder – magical staves – a combination of runes that works as a spell). The excavation site was completed in December 2022 and in February 2023 and exhibition about the site opened at Södertälje konsthall – Fynden i Solhem.
”FYNDEN I SOLHEM” – DUO-EXHIBITION ABOUT “S” AND TROLLS
If you listen carefully, you can hear tales of the trolls who used to live in the Glasberga area, and of how they are still buried in the mountain …
The exhibition ”Fynden i Solhem” – The Findings in Solhem – begins with an excavation site in Södertälje, where strange fossil have been exposed. During 2022 Annika Petersson and I realized this excavation site, through a public art project at the new primary school Solhem, in Glasberga.
The exhibition features an installation of the environment where the previously unknown S takes center stage. S is believed to have been an amateur paleontologist, who lived with the family who owned the Glasberga Manor House. The findings of troll-fossil have been ascribed to S, and the inner part of the exhibition has been built into the attic of the manor house, where it is believed S lived.
Centrally placed outside the manor house in the exhibition, is an excavation site. It exposes two large “bowls” close together, which tie in with the Nordic myths about these kinds of formations being the imprint of giants or trolls, who sat down to rest whilst the mountain was still soft. The exhibition runs between Feb 3 – March 11, 2023.
BOARDING THE ICEBREAKER ODEN FOR A 6-WEEK EXPEDITION
My next adventure: a research expedition, for real! On May 8, 2023 I board the icebreaker Oden in Longyearbyen/Svalbard together with 40 researchers. Since man began traveling to the polar regions, artists have been part of expeditions. The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat has continued this tradition and since 1988 artists have been offered a place on research expeditions. Now I get to participate in the next polar adventure and I hope that Jonas Falck will join us. Interview at the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat website. (Photo: Ida Rödén and Polarforskningssekretariatet)
Time and again we venture into patches of darkness, encouraged by curiosity and openness. Sometimes the unexpected unfold and a new world is revealed. For me, the unraveling event was the discovery of a curious stone by lake Kultsjön. The stone later uncovered of the hitherto unknown Jonas Falck, a self-taught scientist from Västernorrland.
In Jonas Falcks vetenskapliga iakttagelser, I’ve collected thoughts and experiences that arose in the company of Jonas Falck, active during the late 18th century. Guided by detailed drawings of mutated animals at Kultsjön, extinct water creatures from Fårö, and peculiar mushrooms discovered around Norra Kvarken, a world of possibilities is made visible. But truth is elusive. Sometimes imagination and hope take over and any answer to the question of who Jonas Falck was is anything but fully formulated.
Jonas Falck’s studies of mutated animals at Kultsjön and extinct water creatures on Fårö will be exhibited at the Hagströmer Library in Stockholm, 10 October – 18 November 2022.
The Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library is a treasure, here are more than 100 000 rare and important books, the majority printed before 1860. Many of the works in the Hagströmer Library collections had an epoch-making significance in the history of medicine and science. In the exhibition my scientist Jonas Falck gets to converse with Linnaeus, his disciples, as well as other exciting characters, including those who took an interest in monsters.
