Sigrid Sandström

In a time when we are inundated with digital images on screens, the analogue image craft of painting offers a counterpoise. The basic element of a painting is paint applied to a physical surface, but within these boundaries, there are endless possible variations. Throughout her carrier as an artist, Sigrid Sandström has chosen painting as her form of expression, but continuously stretched its traditions. She wants her paintings to be seen not just as images but also as physical objects to experience. Her methods are experimental, using for example masking, printmaking and pouring techniques, and the time during which a work develops seems to be imbedded in the numerous layers.

For over two decades, Sandström has consequently been exploring one of the oldest motifs of painting: the landscape. In this exhibition, there are works which remind us of, for example, of landslides and melting glaciers. The transient and fugitive play an important role. The works do not come across as static, but as in constant movement. What first appears as a formal experiment on the surface, is suddenly transformed into an illusion of vertiginous depth. This, in combination with Sandström's colour choises – where natural muted greys are contrasted with radient, clear nuances – almost makes the works vibrate.

In this exhibition, three series of new works are presented. One of the series, containing of large-scale free hanging paintings, Sandström has created specifically for Vandalorum. For the first time she displays paintings on canvases that are intended to be experienced from both sides, with a front- and a backside of the same status, but with wildly different temperaments.

Sigrid Sandström (b. 1970 in Stockholm) has an MFA from Yale University. She is a professor at Academy of Fine Arts at The University of the Arts Helsinki and is a former professor at Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and deputy professor at Bard College, New York. Her work is in the collections of Moderna Museet, Public Art Agency Sweden, Malmö Art Museum and Houston Museum of Fine Arts etc.

Curator: Elna Svenle

Thanks to: Åke Wiberg Foundation, Swedish Arts Council, Region Jönköping County, Värnamo Municipality and Vandalorum Partners: Hamrin, Liljedahl, Svenstig
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^{Photo: Patrik Lindell}