Linn Fernström: Vått landskap
Galerie Forsblom 17.2.–19.3.2023
Linn Fernström (b.1974) creates her own inimitable universe in paintings filled with human figures, flowers, insects and a menagerie of miscellaneous animals. Her magical, occasionally surreal lexicon of expression is irresistibly captivating. Alternating between reality and fiction, her paintings bring to life a parallel universe into which the viewer dives eagerly. Amid a profusion of storytelling elements, what shines through is the artist’s passion for painting itself: for the dance of color and rhythm that unfolds across the canvas.
Fernström ranks among Sweden’s leading artists. Often using herself as a model, she paints large-scale compositions portraying herself surrounded by colorful flowers and all manner of creatures. The exhibition features a diverse selection of her paintings, pastels and sculptures. The viewer is drawn first and foremost to her appealingly understated style of painting, which, for all its figurative recognizability, suggests an appetite for adventure. The exhibition celebrates the movement of brush and pigment on canvas and the playfulness of hands in clay, ultimately conveying something about what it means to be human in today’s world.
Fernström graduated from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 2000, after which she has held numerous solo exhibitions in Sweden and has taken part in international group exhibitions in countries such as China and Italy. Fernström’s work is found in many prestigious collections, including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Malmö Art Museum, Linköping Art Museum, the Bonniers Collection, and numerous private collections.