Ines Sederholm: Coexistence
Galerie Forsblom, 6.5.–5.6.2022
Ines Sederholm (b. 1991) belongs to a younger generation of artists with a background in street art who have become established in the gallery world. Her characteristic style is illustrative with bright colors and bold graphic patterns. The exhibition at Galerie Forsblom combines Sederholm's older production - now on display in Finland for the first time - with new works that originated. At the same time, the artist lived in the French Alps.
Ines Sederholm spent 2018-2020 living in Chamonix in the French Alps, where the pace of life follows the rhythm of nature. Living in an alpine village with only a few thousand inhabitants is a grounding experience but also electrifying and even perilous in extreme conditions. The works in Sederholm’s new show are based on sketches from her Chamonix notebooks, which depict Chamonix’s avian community and chronicle the vicissitudes, perils, and surprises of alpine life. Her work exudes a palpable tension born of the artist’s love of the Alps and simultaneous longing to return to the dynamic pace of city life. This paradoxical state is captured by juxtaposing organic forms and natural materials with the shiny surfaces and metallic sheen of urban street art.
The Marine-themed paintings on display in the exhibition are from 2018. Sederholm’s starting point was the relationship between humankind and the oceans. She illuminates the environmental problems we currently face due to human impact: the warming and acidification of the oceans, coral reef bleaching, plastic pollution, and the consequences of deep-sea oil drilling. Her work also comments on eradicating marine species, food chains, and entire ecosystems. While the paintings are thematically profound, their execution is playful and detailed. Sharp black lines meander across the surface, and various animals with curious eyes appear as melting ice floes, plastic bottles, and garbage are floating in the background. The paintings' titles are short poems and offer an idea of what the artist wishes to convey and unlock the viewer’s interpretations regarding each piece.
Sederholm is supported by the Arts Promotion Center Finland.