Studio Log
2010
OK, so Supermarket was a great experience.
My artist-run-project BRICKWORKS was participating
and seems to have been well apreciated,
we also got two mentions in the press: in svd and unt
so that was unexpected and lovely.
Jakob and Christer.s work looked good and
Helena,s performance was a big hit.
So, we hope we get to do this again.
BRICKWORKS is currently organizing the foyer at
the movie theatre GRAND in Stockholm.
I really hope it will be good.
2009
22/11
Got an email from Super Market. BRICKWORKS is in it next
year. This will be good. I am exited.
20/11
A decent day in the studio. I am thinking I should hang on to the
place even though my time there may be somewhat limited in
in the future. This day I didn’t do much but I sort of enjoyed thinking
feeling no pressure to produce work.
Since I don’t have anything major planned in the near future I can just
enjoy the small pieces for a while. Surely it won’t last long
13/11
This was the first day in ages that I was in the studio enjoying (almost)
myself. I was painting. Remembering when my friend Kristian asked
why I clung on to painting? I never had a good answer but maybe,
it’s just a language that most people understand. Even though some
other media say things more clearly they may not do it in a tongue
they perfect. Not to say that I paint perfectly marvellous,
but on a good day I do OK.
And in the evening that very day, the art in office people called and
asked if I wanted to be in a new show with them next month.
“We’ll pay you a fee.” It all feels very good.
And I get to have some bigger work in the show and it’s with good
artists alongside. Later my friend David came over and I helped
him make a new website. Should be up and running soon.
This was the best day in a long while.
8/11
With the kind help of my father Staffan I mounted my new
installation Honorary Wallpaper at a certain billboard in
Stockholm. It is similar to what I showed in Värnamo last month.
We also got a parking ticket which felt completely unfair,
but we had a great lunch at the restaurant “Cliff Barnes”.
25/10
This week I was in a group show with art in office.
It was a very good experience. The gallery invites
a crowd that that rarely comes to my openings,
at least not in such quantities. Business people.
Most artists say they want to reach out and meet new audiences.
This off course means you get some random questions,but if you stay open it
makes for interesting meetings and conversations.
28/9
Värnamo art fair was a great, the reason for that
being the absence of commercial galleries.
This is the good side of the art world that make the otherlook what it is: cheap.
BRICKWORKS had a good experience with the installing, the ineractions and the road trip.
30/7
In the midst of summer not much art happens.
I am really glad the chimneys are still standing.
In June, when I dug a whole for a sign there next to my piece,
I found some glass artefacts. Don’t know what it is but it looks interesting.
Currentlt preparing for the Värnamo art fair and Winterviken shows.
But I have no ideas for either. Not a one.
I should really make new work for both of them.
28/5
All right, so a storm levelled two of the chimneys.
This made me very upset and I could not think of anything
else for days, but it wasn’t until today I could do anything about it.
After some hours work the chimneys are now secured and
let’s hope they will stand through the coming storms.
25/5
As I work part-time as an art teacher was asked to rework the school logo.
I asked: Can I be creative? They replied: No.
For some reason it made me feel relieved.
23/5
Went to the studio, worked on some dirty mondrians, a dark landscape
and an oyster catcher (its for my mum). Had licorice allsorts for lunch.
Took a little walk in the summer rain.
Kept painting dirty mondirans, read some William Blake, walked home.
First day of painting since February.
It was well needed.
21/5
Brickworks (my studio space when active as a artist-run-project space) will be in V.art09
Its going to be good, it’s our first art fair of quality.
It’s in Småland, southern Sweden.
16/5
I never had time to come down from the Rosendal show. There’s been some pressure from work,
the home base, and my father in-law Carl-Gustav came for the weekend.
He made me do handy man work.
Stopped by the studio to pick up some florescent paper for a work I am planning.
As I am a Transmission Gallery member, I get to submit a piece in their annual members show.
I have done this almost every year since I joined back in 1999.
It’s just something I do to keep myself busy. No it’s not, but I think it’s fun.
I take it as a wee assignment and try to make something good out of it each year.
The red thread being a political statement of sorts.
Yesterday I applied to a artist’s run gallery art fair for Brickworks (studio-projects).
Hope we get in.
13/5
At the opening of Cambio/Change/Wechsel the guests scattered across the park.
It didn’t feel like there were some hundred people, but there was. After the opening
some of us continued to Riche. The curator Lisa Boström didn’t get to make her speech
(she’ll give it another go 30/5)but she did do a hell of a job organizing and getting the PR
going and keeping the faith for all of us. I think it worked out all right and I hope my installation
will age well, as it is supposed to.
11/5
Yesterday I installed the piece Suburbia at Rosendal Gardens in Stockholm.
Today my entire body is sore. It was a lot of work and the project kept growing.
Installationwise it is my largest project to date.
Still, when I made the church sculpture Ecclesia everything was much heavier.
My father helped out a great deal (as he did on Ecclesia), and that made things move along faster.
Being a father myself, time is the one thing I just don’t have.
Before I could always work late at night if I didn’t make the deadlines,
but now I need to be there for Inez at all times.
Wouldn’t have it any other way though.
20/4
Working on some sculptures for a show in Stockholm. It’s opening on May 13.
The only snag is that I have injured myself getting the work together.
First I messed up my knee on my bike on the way to Rosendal Gardens
where the show is going to be. And the following week some 160 kilos
of wood landed on my good foot. Not being able to walk slows things down a tad.
27/1
Working with som new drawings for a show in March.
in 2001 I started a series of paintings from current events.
On my studio wall I have a postcard of a Max Beckman painting.
I like it alot. It’s of a woman giving birth and upside down in the ceiling
there are some bizarre musicians playing. I assure you it’s great.
So, I am allowing myself finally to be inspired by this work as I pick up the
trail of the news items.
Feeling optimistic, though there is certainly not much time to produce the work.
09/01/01
Nothing!
2008
23/12
Not producing anything at all, making some scribblings and a mind map of possible
projects for the next year. My mind can not concentrate on art.
Maybe I will explore the “aesthetics” of cartoons. Watercolours…
12/12
Working on my project dirty-mondians,
24/11
OK, so now we have moved to bigger, better greener and quieter. Its also closer to my studio.
I met up with Leif for a chat. We spoke of a continuation of the grand piano-playing, which
feels really good.
18/11
Last night we had a reading in the Gallery along with the release of “departure of melancholy”.
Maja, Nanuk, Johannes, Iris and I read, and it was well received but I couldn’t really feel content,
I didn’t make the connection with the audience as I would have wanted. I didn’t stutter or anything
like that but I hope next reading will work better.
There was a lot of people in the audience and afterwords we had a nice time out at Riche.
12/11
I Met The artist(s) Fruls Tilpo at an opening and afterwards we went to a bar and talked for some time.
It was a very agreeable acquaintance.
7/11
The last few days I have been working on texts and ideas for new projects.
Obviously I should have my hands full the next months with my new family and such,
but it cant hurt staying ahead if only in a mental state.
So, a new plan is to look into the aesthetics of comics,
which I have never quite understood the value of…
I am also working on my piece for the Rosendahl (park area in central Stockholm) show 2009.
And then there is my constant battle in the studio with the designs of Mondrian.
Working title “Dirty Mondirans”
27/10
Last night I took down the show.
Its amazing how something that takes so much time and effort can be
uninstalled within 45 minutes. It was a good show though.
Feels like the very best I could produced at this point in my life.
But again, as with previous shows, I keep wondering if I could have presented it with more text or explainations,
was it accessible enough? I liked the design of it and feel good about the subject that it delt with.
Good enough for now, alas here follows the post-show blues, unless I shall distract myself in a
constructive mannor.
26/10
The concert with Leif went really well.
Good turn-out, good atmosphere, good colaboration
with Leif and boy did we get varied and surprising sounds from the old piano.
Lots of fun, the hours flew by. And the audience seemed to like it too.
Leif and I may just possibly get some more prosperous gigs out of this.
And afterwords we went to a fab sambaesq after party in Rinkeby.
17/10
A colleague of my father came to the gallery, maybe I’ll do a portrait for him.
That wouldn’t be bad at all.
11/10
Good show at Niklas Belenius, great turn out and I am very pleased with Urban’s text.
I am really pleased that we managed to get the fountain working, the grand piano stable
and that the paintings hung well in the gallery.
8/10
I dont know how the hell we are going to get the piano through the door to the gallery,
however we have all of today to take things apart and movers to help us out.
Lets hope no one gets stuck underneath this 260 kg monster.
19/6
Varnished some of my concrete works (matt).
Just to see if they’d feel more finished.
Prepared some boards for night landscapes.
I really need to get cracking now,
the show is in October and I want to have a full
body of work finished by summers end.
I am also planning a plant piece, a fountain piece,
a piano installation and (wait for it)
a textile piece.
I need some good luck with all of this…
10/6
Bought new rollers.
Working on a series of concrete images in oil.
There is a starting point in Mondrians later work,
but everything has been changes and I do believe
I am also reading up on Rothko.
Il like the fact that they both had religious schemes
behing what many people today seem to read merely
decorative qualities.
I am trying to make these pictures my own,
and maybe add some religion back in them.
It´s an interesting process for me but I have a hard time
explaining how they fit in with my other work.
23/5
Spent all day in the studio.
Worked mainly with rollers.22/5
Stared at my work,
went out for a shandy with Henrik discussing the Helsinki show 19/5
Looked at my work for a while, then I read Dante’s Inferno
recommended by Primo Levi.
It’s really good and a stark reference to the concentration camps.16/5
I still have an urge to paint and it is going well.
What a surprise. I hope it can last for a while, though I doubt it.
Anders Bergman e-mailed.
Henrik and I are up for a show in his gallery in Helsinki in September.
Yey!
14/5
Still flow happening.
Lots of painting and a good healthy appetite for being in the studio.
Things feel all right.13/5
Left the hammock hanging. 12/5
The installation piece Resting was vandalized.
The glass is shattered.
Maybe I should be disappointed or angry but I feel none of that.
I find it rather interesting and exiting.
It like adds something new to my work.
I suppose I’ll need to take it down soon so no-one steals my work…9/5
Today I had good floow worked on big head and several other paintings.
No break through but a decent day in the studio. Rikard (my oldest friend from Täby)
came to visit.His partner came along. He is a ceramicist and Eleanor is a glass artist.
It was really pleasant, they seemed to like some of the work.
Eleanor asked if I would want to swap something with her.
That made me really happy.
2/5
Hung the Täby show.
It went well.
1/5
Made frames for the show in Täby.
Artist of the month.
At 23:16 I realized that I probably shouldn’t be using the jig saw anymore.
Made the kind of box frames, and I was rather pleased with them
although one can always use another coat of paint and spackle.
27/4
Came back from Chicago, t’was a terrific trip but we have the worst jet lag ever.
Good art museums in both Milwaukee and Chicago, but I can’t say that I got inspired.
However it was nice taking a break from it all.
11/4
Had coffee for two hours, cleaned my studio space,
Nothing going on. Exhausted.
Some sort of post exhibition apathy.
Seems to happen regularly.
4/4
Made a new sign for the studio door,
cleaned the windows,
red books at the art academy library
for a few hours.
2/3
Had coffee in the studio.
Made a stupid repetitive drawing that reminded me of
The Shining‘s: “all work and no fun …”
1/4
The installation is still up.
No vandalism, so that’s good news.
I need to clean the windows.
31/3
Installed the piece “Resting” for Ether-Gram
at Hornstull Metro station.
It’s a cramped space and quite difficult to work in.
Also, all the people walking past made me quite nervous.
It feels a bit fragile, but I hope it stays up.
29/3
The opening went fine, good turn out and
I felt really happy with the way things turned out
27/3
Installation is going well, trying to reduce the material
23/3
Bought all the necessary materials for “rest”.
the installation for the metro stop Hornstull.
metal, wire and tarpaulin etc
17/3
Meeting with the group regarding Rosendal.
14/3
I think I just ruined the big head, first it looked a lot like me (which
Helena [studio mate] pointed out) and then it just turned from bad to worse.
Some of the smaller landscapes are starting to look better though.
It was a good day though. Helena and I had some good critique going.
Inspiring really.
13/3
The big head looks awful and the larger landscape is just too wishy-washy.
My studio mate Rikard said one of my smaller landscapes was “fantastic”.
I am sure he was being sarcastic, but that’s OK.
It doesn’t need to be there just yet.
Rearranged the sculls.
12/3
After lunch I spent the whole day in the studio,
working with the dark landscapes.
The ones I previously liked so much had to go in the bin.
But I started working with the same concept on a larger one.
Also a new massive painting of a head.
11/3
Got an email from Glasgow.
I’m going to be in an artist’s book anthology in June.
It deals with ideas of work that probably never can be realized…
This made me feel very good. For a while.
8/3
Drilled for three hours and finally finished of the table.
Jens (a mate at the Brickworks studios) suggested I’d show
this new table with some similar stuff. This could mean to
put the old sawed-up table with it. Makes sense.
And a new flower/fern/wax/light bulbs -installation.
And some new paintings. could work…
7/3
Tonight I am giving an artist’s talk at Chimos Vänkväll.
That’s at 18:00 at Tellus Midsommarkransen.
On the artist’s role and the game and the rules.
Met with Rosendal for a site specific group show next year.
It was intense, and has good prospects.
And I’ll be in the studio all day, drilling and maybe painting.
5/3
Drilled for two hours, then inspecting my paintings.
I found the idea of them good but,
something in the surface feels all wrong.
The glossiness is fine but it basically looks to rough and maybe too small.
Too bad.
3/3
Lunch meeting with mum.
Threw around some ideas for the Lund show.
Drew on the floor plan and finally we narrowed it down
to two 3d and a series of paintings.
After we took a walk down to the Royal Library.
I sat with the students and sketches some more.
29/2
Drilled in the table for about two hours straight.
Apparently the fumes from the sculls infuriated my studio mates.
They do have a lot to put up with.
Saw dust, polystyrene, melted wax etc.
It’s no good.
Hopefully I contribute with something in return.
However, I did paint some few landscapes that I liked a lot.
Dark ones.
Let’s see if I still like them tomorrow.
28/2
Road trip w. Sofia to Galleri Astley in Uttersberg.
That’s halfway to no-where, but what a lovely lovely place.
I have a feeling it’s not the last time I’ll go there.
27/2
Drilled in the table for about 1, 1/2 hours.
There are some sparks coming out of the machine but
I try not to worry and not to get electrocuted.
its coming along nicely, about half way there.
Dipped each of my 29 polystyrene sculls in paint,
mixed to seam like white human skin, sort of.
Smelled a bit though.
But that should be all right for Friday.