“Underwater ridges – Below and above the water surface” (2023)
Islands allure. Partially because they’re defined by something as fleeting as water. It’s easy to forget that what is now a mountain peak once lay on the ocean floor, and in our deepest seas lie our future islands. These islands – drawn under the guidance of Jon Brand – still rest far below the surface of the sea.
“WP 13 – Observations from a Polar Expedition” (2023)
From May 7 to June 5, 2023, I travelled across the Arctic Ocean. As the artist aboard the icebreaker Oden, I was part of an expedition invited by the Polar Research Secretariat. The watercolor diaries became a way to understand a new place and its “inhabitants.” Ultimately, four watercolor diaries stand testament, capturing the essence of life abord the Oden during ARTofMELT 2023.
“Jonas Falck – a rejected explorer’s observations” (2014-ongoing)
Since 2014 I have given life to Jonas Falck, an individual active in the late 18th century. He perceived himself as one of Linnaeus’ disciples, a status the esteemed botanist never officially acknowledged. Following in the footsteps of Jonas Falck, I meticulously document peculiar findings of mutated animals, extinct sea creatures, and mushrooms filled with bones.
At times, I entertain the notion that my odyssey with Jonas Falck has concluded. However, with each punctuation mark at the end of a sentence and every shift in focus, I begin to discern something overlooked. Thus, the journey persists.
Book: Jonas Falcks vetenskapliga iakttagelser (2022)
“The Findings in Solhem” (2022-2023)
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 Findings in Solhem” begins with an excavation site in Södertälje, where strange fossil have been exposed. It is a collaborative art projekt with Annika Petersson. It is also an exhibition at Södertälje konsthall.
“Life found in stones“ (2020-2021)
Since 2014 I have given life to Jonas Falck, active in the late 18th century. I found him inside hollow stones at Kultsjön in northern Sweden. In these studies I’ve been thinking about life found in stones, about meteorite impacts, about mutation in nature.
“Missfärgade glasrutor” (Stained glass) (2018-2020)
I inherited 25,000 art historical slides from my grandfather. This is my way of processing the legacy – I’ve currently painted about 200 water colors in natural scale.
“The closed sanctity – St Andrew (Bo)“ (2012-2018)
In order to understand my relationship to holiness and to my grandfather, I have painted icons that I have closed inside wooden boxes.
“A world for a creature of the border” (2017-2019)
I create worlds for creatures of the border. I started the work when I spent two weeks in a cave near La Vall de Laguar in southern Spain. Here lived the Ezme de Laguart (1580-1609) who initiated the rebellion against the deportation of the Moriscos.
“Kvarvara Gård” (2014)
Kvarvara Gård is an installation created for the Art Museum of Sundsvall, Sweden. I was in early spring 2014 invited to creatively use the museums collection of old objects and photographs. With that as my working material I slowly gave life to Kvarvara Gård, an abandoned country estate outside of Sundsvall that may or may not exist.
“Cellar in the Attic” (2012)
Cellar in the Attic has clear reference points to the Sarah Winchester House in California. The house is today a tourist attraction presenting the most exaggerated stories. The house has an unusual labyrinthine architecture, but it was the 1906 earthquake that gave it the strange character that further fueled its ghost stories. The earthquake left Sarah Winchester devastated and instead of tearing the whole structure down she showed no hesitation to leave traces of its former self. It is with this idea of fictionalized history I started to explore my surroundings through photography – documenting interior doors, windows, and staircases.
“Remembering Butterflies” 2012
Remembering Butterflies is an installation that presents the history of Margot Waltz, the Butterfly Lady. Waltz’s story is told from the perspective of the artist, Ida Rödén, now serving the role of reporter. To understand her subject Rödén “lived” for two weeks with three housemates and it was during this stay that she came in contact with Waltz.
“A Reunion of Lost People” (2011)
A Reunion of Lost People are manipulated documents of reunions that never took place in real life. By combining the faces of different individuals extracted from a database of people reported missing, I am looking to retain the idea of a missing person—someone who is absent from the world, but is still present in memories and photographs.
“Soccer Team” (2011)
Soccer Team was made for a group show with the Belgian artist Kris Martin at CCA Wattis Institute in San Francisco. The title of the show was “Hammarby,” and as a Swedish citizen this naturally rings some bells (Hammary = Swedish soccer team). I decided to create my own nonexistent Hammarby team. I took headshots of all artists participating in the show, combined our features, and turned us into team players.
“The Unwritten Quarterly” (2011)
The Unwritten Quarterly is a literary magazine dedicated to the fabrication of life. Although it might seem like different characters write the individual articles, they can with equal possibility have been authored by one and the same. The magazine was my master thesis at California College of the Arts.
“The Circular Ruins” (2011)
The Circular Ruins (org. Las Ruinas Circulares), is a short story written by the Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. In short it deals with the manifestation of thoughts and dreams in the “real world.”
“Museu Rua dos Douradores: The Bernardo Soares Collection” (2010-2011)
The Bernardo Soares Collection contains items that have either been in the possession of Bernardo Soares, or objects that can be related to this essential thinker. In the collection, one will find furniture, personal belongings, and interpretations of Soares’s creations by other artists. Other noticeable elements in the collection include his notebook, a collection of icon paintings, and The Unwritten Quarterly – the magazine he famously created. The Bernardo Soares Collection was my thesis exhibition at California College of the Arts, and exhibition where I investigated the relationship between imaginary and real worlds.
“Quoting Central Park” (2010)
During three weeks in New York I turned Central Park into my studio. I conducted a lot of research before my departure from San Francisco – from fictional novels I collected quotes referencing Central Park.
“How do you inherit someone else’s lifetime work?” (2007-2008)
One day I inherited nearly 30,000 slides after my grandfather. I carried out this work before I took over the archive. It became a way to get to know archives and my grandfather.
