Author name: odalisque

Yves Scherer: “Being an Artist Is About Showing up Every Day” text Natalia Muntean To kick off Stockholm Art Week, we have asked a number of interesting people from the city’s art scene questions to explore their relationship to art and the city. Born in Switzerland, Yves Scherer’s work explores identity through sculptures, lenticular prints, and installations that blend autobiographies, collective memories, and fan fiction, blurring the line between reality and virtuality. His art deals with questions of the self, celebrity, and mediated realities. Mainly working in sculpture and installation, he creates immersive environments that offer a romantic perspective on the self and everyday life. What is the story behind your exhibition during Stockholm Art Week?I’m presenting a group of lenticular works under the title “AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”. The works are a combination of personal photographs with appropriated images from a Mario Sorrenti book depicting Kate Moss when she was a young girl and his girlfriend. I hand-coloured these images and using a technology of my own development now present them in combination with flower photographs that I took on my analogue camera in my private life and travels. What inspired you to become an artist, and how has your artistic journey evolved?My first interest was in literature and books. Growing up in a small village, these things first opened up the wider world to me. After this, my interest in visual art developed in Berlin, professionalized a bit in London and now I think has matured in New York. What is your creative process like, and how do you approach developing new ideas and concepts for your work?I think it’s just about showing up every day and trying to do it better than the day before. My practice has always been quite broad so getting older I focus more on narrowing it down and refining things. With this, the threshold for starting new things has become higher also, it’s hard to do anything really well so you don’t want to spread it too thin. Are there any particular themes or subjects that consistently appear in your work, and if so, what draws you to them?I have some formal interests such as in figurative sculpture or a certain kind of painting, and in terms of content, I have long been interested in mixing public figures such as celebrities with experiences in my own life to create a sort of confusion of realities or fan fiction. Is there a Swedish artist who you find inspirational?I’m looking forward to visiting the Carl Eldhs museum and I like the young artist EvelinaHägglund.

Jorunn Hancke øGstad: Art Is the Heartbeat of Society text Natalia Muntean To kick off Stockholm Art Week, we have asked several interesting people from the city’s art scene questions to explore their relationship to art and the city. Originally from Norway, Jorunn Hancke Øgstad is a contemporary artist whose work examines and questions the rhetoric of abstract art in paintings and sculptures. She employs, among other things, both traditional and non-traditional materials such as textile dye, epoxy, and plastic on unprepared canvases to examine the properties of these materials, imitating the processes of water painting, spray painting and printing. She draws inspiration from female contemporary artists and references art movements such as pop art and abstract expressionism.   What inspired you to become an artist, and how has your artistic journey evolved?My path to becoming an artist has been rich and shaped by a variety of influences. Creativity was always my thing, sparked by my early days soaking up music. Early on I learned to make sense of abstract languages through playing the piano. As a kid, I dabbled in everything, music, writing, acting, and dancing. Initially, I figured filmmaking would be the perfect blend of my interests, but as I ventured down that road, I felt pulled towards art academies. They seemed less conventional, and their emphasis on freedom and non-hierarchical creative processes appealed to me. I spent years in my studio after graduating from the academy, trying out different things and putting in the hours to figure out my direction before sharing my work more widely. Eventually, things started to click. Having a kid played a role—I had to manage my time better, which meant less time second-guessing myself and more time creating. I began collaborating with the gallery VI, VII in Oslo back in 2019, and it’s been a really interesting journey so far. portraits: courtesy of Kapitalphotography Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB What is your creative process like, and how do you approach developing new ideas and concepts for your work? When it comes to painting, I like to have a rough plan in mind but also allow the materials to guide their own narrative and take me in unexpected directions. As for exhibitions, I take cues from the space and context itself and let that shape the concepts. My personal experiences also seep into my work, although those stories are mostly just for me. What role do you think art plays in society, and how do you see your work contributing to or challenging societal norms? The big question! I believe art is essential – it’s like the heartbeat of society, and inconceivable to imagine a world without culture. I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to how art fits into societal change and the broader pushback against growing authoritarianism. While I don’t think art has to be explicitly political to make a difference, I firmly believe that art, by its very nature, challenges authoritarian ideologies. However, there is this tricky dance with the commercial side of art, and we need to talk more about if and how art can effect change within the confines of a capitalist trading system. I place my faith in the power of inclusive communities rooted in humanistic values, the kind that you often find in art circles, and I draw inspiration from the collective wisdom of my peers. On a brighter note, when you dive into art, you’re basically imagining what our society could or should look like, and the world definitely needs more of that. For me, there are some core values in art that are important, and we should protect and promote them.

Matt Belk: I Think Artists Are Professional Observers text Natalia Muntean To kick off Stockholm Art Week, we have asked a number of interesting people from the city’s art scene questions to explore their relationship to art and the city.Matt Belk is a contemporary wildlife painter combining the outdoor country lifestyle with modern contemporary aesthetics. Born in 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska, his artwork involves the constant use of tape, cutting of shapes with an X-Acto blade, and airbrushing with inventive new techniques to create a seemingly digital graphic representation of the laws of nature. He is currently participating in an art residency program based in Sweden. What is the story behind your exhibition during Stockholm Art Week?The title of this show is “From Nebraska to Sweden” and it’s about showing where I’m from in Nebraska, to my stay in Sweden the past 4 months. This show depicts so many new things I’ve seen in Sweden, exploring all the different wildlife, flora and fauna – mainly on the archipelago island of Blidö, but I’ve also been so fortunate to be able to travel further south to friends’ homes in Sperlingsholm, Erstavik and Borrestad and discovered different terrains from each unique new place I went, and then unfold what I saw and experienced in my work for this exhibition.   What inspired you to become an artist, and how has your artistic journey evolved?My mom was an artist when I was young and I was so amazed watching her draw, I remember looking at her drawing and thinking that it was a magic trick. From the inspiration of my mom, I started drawing for many years, mostly figuratively and then I started to experiment with oils, until just a few years ago my dad bought me an airbrush. I thought I would try it out once and probably never use it again, but here I am 4 years later – and now all I use is airbrush and all I paint is nature, for now. What is your creative process like, and how do you approach developing new ideas and concepts for your work?My process is observation, I think artists are professional observers. What really excites me is travelling to new places and exploring new areas, all of the unique plants, birds, animals and landscapes. That’s what is inspiring to me about nature, it becomes an adventure in itself that is then linked to the art. My picture-building process is to go between an iPad, a sketchbook and a bunch of magazines or photos I’ve taken to Xacto blades and airbrush on layered gesso canvas What role do you think art plays in society, and how do you see your work contributing to or challenging societal norms? I can only speak for myself, who I am as an artist, and my duty as an artist – I believe my calling or my job as an artist is to create work that inspires others, to create work that everyone anywhere can get something from – that isn’t off-putting to anyone. Really, I want to see kids be able to take something from my art, and that it could push them towards exploring the arts too. Are there any themes or subjects that consistently appear in your work, and if so, what draws you to them?I grew up hunting, so there is always some aspect or element about hunting in my works. Hunting is a very ritualistic and grounding thing for me. Growing up, watching the dogs hunt was even more enjoyable than hunting itself. It’s what I know and what I want to show and explore without being off-putting towards anyone, so I want to be clever about how it’s presented, Trojan horse, the concept to my art in a way. Can you share a favourite spot in Stockholm where you go to find inspiration or recharge creatively?One of my favourite things to do since being here is hopping on a bus on Blidö, especially when I need to do some “idea-shopping”. I found that it was the perfect way to map out my next paintings, and a great place for me to think. I took the buses all over Bildo, most often ending up in Norrtälje where I’d spend some time at the ICA Flygfyren Bistro. Can you share a story about a specific neighbourhood in Stockholm that holds personal significance to you as an artist?I love Old Town – Gamla Stan, it’s just magical there, and amazing for bird watching. I also love seeing the old architecture. Is there a Swedish artist who you find inspirational?I really like Joakim Ojanen and Leo Park, I just like how they’ve created their own little worlds – I have a lot of respect for them because they seem like they’re always working and I look up to that, the people who are always working, and you’re kind of chasing in some ways. What is your favourite bar or restaurant in Stockholm?Beirut Café in Östermalms Food Hall. NEBRASKA, 2024 acrylic airbrush, tape and xaco blades on canvas 39,5h x 47,3w in (100h x 120 w cm)

Anton Isaksson: Art Should Mirror Society  text Natalia Muntean To kick off Stockholm Art Week, we have asked a number of interesting people from the city’s art scene questions to explore their relationship to art and the city. Anton Isaksson, a creative, curator and co-founder of Betan Gallery, has presented over 30 artists globally. His artistic creations encompass various mediums, including oil, acrylics, video, performances, public installations, and textiles.   What is the story behind your exhibition during Stockholm Art Week?“Let’s see where our interests converge” is a collection of immaterial transactions. Textile works about perceived value, zero-sum games and transactional relationships. The exhibition is essentially about power. What isn’t? What inspired you to become an artist, and how has your artistic journey evolved?I guess that’s one of those things that just happens when there’s a need to create or express. I don’t know what else I would do. Maybe teach geography? Or history? What is your creative process like, and how do you approach developing new ideas and concepts for your work?I bring my notebook everywhere. When I fill it up, I get an exact copy. Usually, it takes about a month. The ideal notebook should be black, soft in an A5 format and it has to have rows since blank pages intimidate me. What role do you think art plays in society, and how do you see your work contributing to or challenging societal norms?If nothing else, the arts’ purpose should be to mirror society and contribute to it by boiling down complex ideas and making them accessible. That’s how I approach my work. It’s not necessarily about the art but more so about me translating an idea for it to get translated again by the observer. A beautiful process where the message is warped differently each time. Are there any particular themes or subjects that consistently appear in your work, and if so, what draws you to them?Black people. When I’m surrounded by my work I get this sense of belonging. All of a sudden, I’m in the majority. You don’t get that too often. Can you share a favourite spot in Stockholm where you go to find inspiration or recharge creatively?Badmintonstadion Skanstull. I don’t even play that much, it’s just a great atmosphere. The smell, the people, the sounds, the couches and the cheapest coffee in Stockholm (refills are free). Is there a Swedish artist who you find inspirational?Marcia Harvey Isaksson, Thea Olivares, Aron Bergdahl and Betan as a collective. What is your favourite bar or restaurant in Stockholm?Duvan Pub, without a doubt. They’ve fed me when I couldn’t. Superb service.

Picnics, Parties and Women: The Art of Caroline Wong text Natalia Muntean “I use colours as flavours,” says Caroline Wong about her works. Lively, colourful, and exuding a sense of carefree joy and bursting with lazy decadence, her paintings are created simultaneously, mostly at night, in the company of techno music. Born in 1986 in Malaysia, Wong now lives and works in London, where she challenges traditional, restricted representations of East Asian women through her work.At the heart of Wong’s oeuvre is a celebration and vivid exploration of the female experience, their friendships and their pleasure. “Every woman in my pictures is a real woman,” she states. She takes multiple photos of models, friends, and acquaintances, and later brings them to life on canvas. Occasionally, Wong becomes part of her art, inserting herself into her paintings, blurring the lines between artist and muse. Wong’s choice of subjects is deliberate and personal. “I don’t paint men because I feel I don’t know that subject. So I paint what I know. I paint women,” she explains.As the show’s title suggests, food is another central element in Wong’s art, symbolising indulgence and pleasure. “My art is very much tied to food,” she says, drawing parallels between the act of eating and the experience of creating art. Both, according to the artist, are about “giving into pleasure and detaching from the world.”In Wong’s paintings, viewers are offered a voyeuristic look into the vivid world of women as they surrender to the pleasures of life, laughing, chatting, and eating in the company of each other. “Picnics & Parties” is the artist’s first solo show in Sweden, after participating last year in a group exhibition “You Were Bigger Than the Sky, You Were More Than Just a Short Time,” and is on display at Gallery Belenius until 5 May 2024. Artwork photo by Graeme Duddridge and installation images by Ellinor Hall

Exploring the Artistry of Ellen Hedin: Where Function Meets Sculpture text Astrid Birnbaum Ellen Hedin, a Swedish furniture designer, goes beyond the boundaries between functionality and artistry through her innovative use of materials and a keen eye for contrasts. Ellen’s discernible penchant for contrasts manifests in her material selection, underscoring her profound affinity for the natural world. Her oeuvre serves as a conduit for elevating mundane existence into art, extracting the inherent magic permeating our daily lives. Through the infusion of organic elements into her pieces, she beckons viewers to contemplate the intricate interplay between materiality and life itself. – I am like a magpie, I collect things that stir something within me. Then the stick, the shell, or the deer skull can lie dormant, waiting for me, until suddenly one morning I wake up with an idea and understand how they fit together and how they should be used. I believe that all materials have an inherent history; it’s just about bringing them out, getting them to speak. Wood, steel, and bone can bear the memory of places, processes, and people. Ellen intricately weaves together the realms of function and sculpture in her furniture, acknowledging the inherent fusion within the broader artistic landscape. While she strives to create pieces that are either purely sculptural or purely utilitarian, her creations often embody a harmonious synthesis of both domains: – My hope is that people can recognise themselves in both a kind of melancholy but also in a romantic, somewhat mystical image of the world in my furniture. Someone once said that my furniture is more like artefacts than furniture, I thought that was a nice description, but for me, functionality is also important, I believe it deepens the connection. My furniture is both charged and to some extent also alive, it’s direct, both in the design and in the expression,” she shares. Through her work, she emphasises the vital role of human interaction, whether her pieces adorn domestic spaces or grace the walls of gallery exhibitions. This emphasis underscores the intrinsic value of functionality in her artistic practice, enriching the viewer’s experience with each encounter. One of Ellen’s most captivating creations, “Tell,” stands as a testament to her fervent storytelling and material exploration. Drawing inspiration from the rich tapestry of Swedish tradition, particularly the practice of divination with molten tin, this cabinet serves as a vessel for her personal narratives and cherished memories. – Tell was born on New Year’s Eve a few years ago. We predicted the upcoming year in tin. Naturally, I poured in the most tin and received the biggest prophecy of all. While everyone else was busy analysing their predictions, I had already begun to contemplate how I could use my prickly, fragile, yet also sharp and heavy lump of tin. Sometimes I have an almost childlike delight in certain things; this prophecy felt awe-inspiring, as if it carried a kind of meaning I couldn’t grasp. Within the intricate design of “Tell,” elements of childhood wonder, familial bond, profound narrative depth: – It wasn’t until I felled a tree for the first time some months later on my father’s farm in Färingsö outside Stockholm that I felt the same sensation again. I then understood that the large log I had felled was connected to the tin casting, that the materials were speaking to each other and were meant to be together. Beyond her individual artistic pursuits, Ellen is also an integral part of Misschiefs, where she maintains her studio: – Misschiefs has provided me with a sense of community and a studio, which allows me to focus on my artistic work and learn a great deal from all the incredible people in the studio. It’s a safe space and a secure environment, which means I don’t need to worry as much about what others think or spend so much time trying to fit in,” Ellen shares. “I get to be myself at Misschiefs, and that has made me braver. Each artefact crafted by Ellen embodies a unique saga, inviting viewers to embark on a journey through the intricate nexus of materiality, functionality, and artistic ingenuity. Her avant-garde approach to material manipulation and meticulous attention to detail continually push the boundaries of traditional furniture design. In doing so, Ellen blurs the dichotomy between form and function, sculpture and utility, challenging conventions and inviting a reevaluation of the relationship between art and everyday life.  

From Screen to Canvas: Malin Molin’s Meditations on Contemporary Imagery text Natalia Muntean “I seek more freedom through my paintings,” says Swedish artist Malin Molin as we stand in front of Dear eyes, what are you looking at?, one of her works from her current solo show, Ekfraser. Born in Gothenburg in 1989, Molin is exhibiting for the second time in a solo show, Ekfrases (Ekphrases), at Gallery Wetterling in Stockholm. Derived from the Greek ekfras, the title describes a commentary on a visual work of art, with the artist intending to offer a commentary on today’s culture of image. Molin says she has an ambiguous relationship with the images we see online, and in our everyday lives. She is equally fascinated and enthralled by the neverending stream of imagery that can be found online, while also rebelling through her paintings against these same images deciding so many things for us, without us even being aware of it happening. The starting point for the colour-saturated paintings making up the exhibition are prompts given to AI software, such as Open Ai’s Dall-e 3 or Midjourney. This is an essential part of Molin’s attempt to understand the systems of image production that shape our reality, desires, minds, and bodies while counterbalancing these systems with oil painting. “I wanted to bring the flat images we see online and bring more movement, more body, more physicality to them. I believe that paintings offer the possibility of more immersion, more interaction and more awareness of your physical body,” she says about the movement, and livelihood even, present in her works. Rather than focusing on their visual meaning, Molin aims to draw attention to how the images were constructed. While the images are mostly inspired by animal and vegetal motifs, they are characterised by artificial lighting and a pinch of eccentricity. “I always feel a sense of dread before an exhibition and a feeling of it not being good enough,” she confesses. This time these feelings pushed her to start working on one more addition to the exhibition just two weeks before the opening, with the painting depicting two cats with circles ending up as the centrepiece of the show. Molin credits meditation for her success with painting, considering it one of her main rituals before facing the canvas, a space where she activates her sense of intuition and lets it guide her brushes and strokes. Ultimately, through Ekfrases, Molin aims to examine how our daily consumption of media and the inundation of images in contemporary culture affects us. “I wanted to merge these images that we see every day with questions such as: who are we or what do we seek,” says the artist. The show is on display at Wetterlling Gallery in Stockholm from March 14 until April 20, 2024.

Linea Matei’s First Solo Show Is a Tender Triumph text Rosel Jackson Stern When I walk into Linea Matei’s first soloshow Ser Du Mig, I don’t know what I’m looking at. Humanoid polyester sculptures with rounded edges in varying champagne colours sit in a circle with an empty chair among them. Each sculpture is stuffed with wadding and set up as though I’ve just walked in on an otherworldly AA meeting — alien yet somehow familiar. It’s opening night on a chilly February evening at the Stockholm based gallery CFHill. The room is buzzing with onlookers gazing at the circle, in turn watched by more textile sculptures lining the walls around us. The sculptures seem to echo the humanity of the onlookers. There’s an affinity to them as if we’re meeting ourselves from a different dimension. On closer inspection, each sculpture possesses a mirror where the face should be. This confronting intimacy is no accident. Having graduated from Konstack in 2022, this encounter is the first solo show of textile artist Linea Matei. She has sketched each sculpture and crafted them using the sewing skills she gained as a child. The subtle depth of their postures has been hard-won through hours of interviews across Sweden with subjects of varying ages, sensibilities and locations. “I wanted to set up the sculptes so that they explored what might happen if the interviewees somehow met,” she tells me in the upstairs rooms of the gallery. “What would happen if these people from wildly different backgrounds shared space?” she asks. The result is not just a cheap imitation of human behaviour, but a life given, reflected and cared for. Each of the sculptures is someone we know, forgotten or avert our eyes from. They are someone we console, someone whose shoulder we cry on. Both disturbing and comforting, there is a warmth to Linea’s show born of mature and nuanced practice. At the opening, the eerie familiarity seems echoed by my fellow spectators. When I asked one buyer what made them purchase one of them, he smiled and said: “It was something about the [sculptures] confidence and attitude of ‘please take care of me’ that spoke to me. It’s both vulnerable and strong. Like life.“ What has started as an unforgivingly chilly night in Stockholm has blossomed into an unusual display of public tenderness. We meet the sculptures with the sensibility of glimpsing a long-lost friend, only to be confronted by our own faces. For cold and cynical hearts, the show is bright and unassuming mediation on connection. It is confounding, delightful and surprises even the most deadened of viewers into a shared moment of humanity. It’s a benevolence so sweet that it poked my eye upon first seeing the show, equivalent to a stranger picking up on an awkward habit I never thought anyone noticed. Once I’d finished flinching, something inside me melted at the lives lived through these sculptures. Linea has done what the best art does: transmutes the world around them to reflect something of value back at the viewer. To do so without becoming a cliché, or overly “sugary” as my grandmother would say, you have to be specific. In this case, the angle of an arm, or weight of a knee becomes the difference between being force fed a message and inhaling the sweet scent of your favourite dish as a child. There’s no clearly discernible moral to Ser Du Mig, a credit to the artist. True to its name, it constitutes a wildly successful exploration of what it means to be seen. Ser Du Mig runs until 15/03/2024 at CFHill Gallery in Stockholm.

The Altersea Opera: A Journey of Displacement and Belonging text Natalia Muntean A poetic story exploring the tensions between the desire to stay and the need to leave, The Altersea Opera will dominate the Nordic Pavilion during this year’s La Biennale di Venezia. The Pavilion will transform into a dragon ship powered by magical sails filled with stories and mythological water creatures trying to find their way back to their places of origin, conceptualised by the Swedish artist Lap-See Lam. The imaginary ship is based on the Floating Restaurant Sea Palace, a Chinese dragon ship built in Shanghai and decorated by master craftsmen. The three-storey vessel served as a restaurant in Gothenburg before becoming a ghost ship at Gröna Lund theme park in Stockholm. Lap-See Lam found it dilapidated and moved it to a boatyard in the Stockholm Archipelago. Now the giant dragon’s head prow will travel from the Arctic archipelago to the Venetian lagoon. The audio-visual installation is influenced by various sources, such as the Red Boat Opera Company and themes of belonging, mobility, and generational loss, central to Lap-See Lam’s work. The Swedish artist explores the effects of displacement on people and objects across different contexts and times, digging into the depths of generational loss. The work on the 2024 edition of the Nordic Pavilion is led by Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In collaboration with Asrin Haidari, curator of Swedish and Nordic Art at the museum, Lam has invited artist Kholod Hawash (Finland) and composer Tze Yeung Ho (Norway), as well as singers, costume designers, filmmakers, and a certified bamboo scaffold engineer, to contribute.  The 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will take place between 20 April and 24 November 2024, with the official inauguration happening on the 18 April 2024.Photo: Mattias Lindbäck/Moderna Museet  

An Interview With the Artist Jan Håfström text Astrid Birnbaum Photography Sandra Myhrberg Jan Håfström stands as a towering figure in Swedish contemporary art, celebrated for his multifaceted contributions that have left an imprint on the nation’s artistic landscape. Born in Stockholm in 1937, Håfström’s artistic journey has been marked by a profound exploration of language, symbols, and a seamless fusion of diverse artistic disciplines. His recurring theme is the presence of death in life. Influenced by the movements such as minimalism and pop, Håfström’s artworks become a captivating synthesis of visual and conceptual elements. His canvases breathe life into a unique tapestry, where symbolism and storytelling intertwine to create distinctive narratives. They invite viewers into a realm of contemplation and interpretation.We met in his studio in Liljeholmen, Stockholm. Draped in a painter’s overall, Jan guided me through a collection of both new and old works that punctuated the studio space. Amidst the canvases and creative chaos, our conversation unfolded over coffee, providing a glimpse into the labyrinth of his mind. We finally got lost. Astrid Birnbaum: Jan, you were born in Stockholm and you studied philosophy at Lund University, followed by artistic studies at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. How were your years in art school?Jan Håfström: Yes, it was after finishing high school in Gothenburg that I ended up in Lund, where I studied philosophy. I had heard that they had excellent lecturers there. There was a guy named Carl Fehrman who had written a book called “The Poet and Death” – so of course, I had to go there straight away! Before that, since childhood, I had been drawing, but that I would become an artist wasn’t so clear. However, I felt that the academic world wasn’t quite for me, so after moving back to Stockholm, I applied to the Royal Institute of Art. I suspected that being an artist was a way of life – independent, creating your own agenda, no one to boss you around. That appealed to me. There were groups outside art school that interested me. The magazine “Kris,” was run by people I spent time with, including my friend Håkan Rehnberg. Håkan and I met at the Royal Institute of Art. People at the school were theoretically quite boring, so we mostly socialised outside school. When I went to New York in the mid 70’s , Håkan –who is a painter –came along. A.B: New York, what does it mean to you? Which artists from your time there have inspired you? J.H: It’s hard to beat Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. We lived on Church Street, just below Canal Street. Everyone gathered in New York. Landing there in the mid-’70s was a gift, especially when PS1 had just started – a lot was happening. An artist I was particularly interested in was Robert Ryman. He did incredibly simple things, just swiping the brush across the canvas. He taught me a lot. I got a studio at PS1 in the spring of 1977. The exhibitions there were crucial for me. “Montezuma’s Breakfast” by Richard Nonaswas one of them. It featured logs on the floor, moving in and out of rooms, creating a strange sculpture. Barnett Newman, the painter and sculptor, was also very interesting to us. We never met him; he died in 1970. But we were invited to his widow Anna-Lee Newman’s home, where she showed us the bed he had slept in the day before he left and never returned. It’s almost macabre – she preserved the bed exactly as it was. A.B: Would you say that your art draws much inspiration from your childhood?J.H: Yes. My dad was religiously inclined and wanted me to attend Sunday school. In Örebro, there was a Sunday school in Immanuel Church, an independent church. They were crucial. Their teaching for children around my age, about 5 to 6 years old, involved a big box with sand where we moved around small sculptures, replaying religious themes. Much in my art comes from that time, and from there I’ve incorporated the theatrical aspects. A.B: Certain authors like Joseph Conrad and Edgar Allan Poe seem to be recurring in your works. What is it that interests you in their work?J.H: They scared me a bit, perhaps, which I found interesting. Embracing them makes the reading experience extreme. Both Poe and Conrad attempt to delve into some kind of darkness, into a realm of death from . One enters but does one ever come back the same? A.B: References to death are often present in your art. Can you share your thoughts on this? Do you often contemplate death?J.H: My dad talked a lot about death. He was a bit narrow-minded, I think. But he introduced me to Edgar Allen Poe! With all the difficult things happening in the world now – in Ukraine and with wars worldwide – certain thoughts come back. I’ve thought a lot about why I return to death in my art, but I believe that by creating what I do, I find a way to process what’s happening. I have to survive mentally; otherwise I might go crazy. A.B: Last year, you released a collection with the fashion brand A Day’s March, featuring coats inspired by one of your famous works – Mr. Walker. The statue at Central Station is named “Who is Mr. Walker?” Do you have an answer to that question?J.H: Oh, that coat… Fabric and clothes have played a big role in my art. And who is Mr. Walker? I get the answer from people around me. The other day, I was on the subway, and I noticed a man staring intensely at me. Eventually, he approached and said, “I would like to thank you for the sculpture at Central Station. I go there sometimes and wash my soul.” For me, Sunday school and Jesus are still present – and they are connected to Mr Walker from the comic strip Fantomen – the Phantom. There are parallels between