Who am I?
A lot, I would dare to say. I am an artist, and a
thinker of great things, and at the same time, a thinker of small things. Often
I find myself contemplating on the great mysteries of our world and universe,
but at the same time I have my feet steadily on the ground. Like the roots of
the tree, my roots grow deep underground, in to the soil of the forest. There I
find great inspiration for my art, and have always done so.
When I was a kid, I could spend hours on end sitting
hunched over the kitchen table at my parents, completely loosing track of time.
As soon as I put the pencil on the paper, I opened the door to another world. I
must say that not much have changed since then. My art is mostly about
exploring new worlds and universes, and I want the observer to be
able to stop for a long while, exploring these worlds and their quirky
inhabitants. The worlds are almost always packed with details, because I want
the observer to be able to continue discover new things.
My life
I was born and raised in the northern part of Sweden,
in the town called Umeå. The Swedish letter å is a word in itself, and it means
river. The town is called Umeå because it's divided by a great river. Umeå is
also called The City of Birch Trees. Sometime during the 19th century the town
of Umeå burned to the ground, and when they rebuild it they planted long rows
of birch trees along the streets and in between the houses, so that next time a
fire broke out, it would have a hard time spreading because of the guarding,
water filled trees. Umeå is something truly special. In the winter, the streets
are filled with blue and white light from the snow. But this light of winter
soon fades and is exchanged with the light of summer, which is radiating
from gleaming, sunlit birch trees.
I grew up with my parents and three siblings. I have always enjoyed playing and
working with children (a few years ago I worked at a couple of preschools), and
I guess it comes down to my vivid imagination, which I always use when coming
up with new games. This imagination is, I hope, reflected in my art.
Like I wrote in the beginning, I have always drawn a lot
of inspiration from nature, and this has also nursed my lust for exploring new countries
and places around the world. I have hiked the mountains of New Zeeland and the
Swiss Alps, travelled by train through Europe, stopping in Germany, on Corsica
and in France to work on organic farms through the worldwide organisation called
Wwoof (something I HIGLY recommend everyone should try!) When I travel I always
have my camera close at hand, often taking hundreds of pictures for each
country I visit. Sometimes I go back to these photos to find inspiration for
new projects and paintings. I you would like to see some of my photos, just
visit my website.
Right now I live in the southern part of Sweden
together with my girlfriend in an old, 17th century mansion, working as an
artist and as a work leader for a group of people with mental disabilities.
Together with these people we make a newspaper. I make the layout for the
newspaper, and the others write the articles.
What do I do in my spare time? Paint (of course), make
music on my computer, write on my fantasy stories, grow vegetables in the
garden, engaging in questions concerning the environmental crisis, bike to the
lake to watch birds with my binoculars, exploring the forest with my
girlfriend, hugging trees, cooking food, baking sourdough bread and brewing
beer.
Maybe the word artist is not so fitting after all, to
describe who I am. I would rather see myself as a storyteller. Not just because
I write stories, but because that's essentially what my paintings are doing:
they tell a story. Telling stories is something I always have done, and
hopefully something I will do for a long time to come.
