Interview at Artworks.se
The interview is in swedish and can be found in the link below.
Art2020 a fully digital conference on art at Linneaus Univeristy
Art – What is it good for? Education, mediation, criticism 19-20 august
Today i am happy to participate in the Webconference Art2020 at Linneaus University.
As professor Lena Liepe said in the introduction if one thing the pandemic has brought in favour to us is more opportunities to participate in events digitally.
I am especially looking forward to the session on Climate and art.
Stay tuned for more reflections on the Conference.
https://lnu.se/mot-linneuniversitetet/konferenser/art—what-is-it-good-for/
Strange days indeed
Covid 19 has really changed our everyday life. We are all facing unique hardships and challenges.
My event calendar was suspended overnight including my large exhibition “Ambient Ocean”. Given more time on my hand i felt that people all around were talking about being MORE creative instead i became LESS creative.
We were supposed to “Catch up” in the time given to us. Guess what ? I did no such thing. Anyone out there who experienced the same feeling?
For a few days now i have been visiting my studio and gradually started to do some work. My spark is back and it feels great.
I would love to hear your reactions and how your creativity suffered (or blossomed). The pandemic is by no means over but perhaps we have adjusted some and found a new state of normal that we can cope with until we have a more open society.
Science and art
“The greatest scientists are artists as well” , Albert Einstein
I could not agree more with Albert and I feel so blessed to be able to explore art and biological sciences.
Often we forget the similarities since there are differences in traditions and audience for science and art.
Yet there are so many parallels in the processes of science and art as well as in the communication of both disciplines. Not to mention that the goals and motifs are basically the same.
And then i have not spoken a word about how scientists and artists are the same but i will talk about that another time. For now i just rest in the thought that we have a need to understand the world (i.e ocean) around us and share the knowledge.
What do you think is science and art related?
Art with plastic from the ocean
Through cooperation with the SSPA i received a batch of plastic that has been extracted from the ocean. SSPA works for innovative and sustainable maritime development so i am thrilled to receive the plastic that they cleaned out from the sea. 
SSPA do lots of other interesting projects so have a look at their web page sspa.se.
The plastic from the ocean will now become part of my paintings.
I can´t wait to get started.
When did I become an artist?
A very central question to artists is”when do you feel you can call yourself an artist”. To some it is when you have your first exhibition or start selling art. To me the turning point and goal was when i felt i was an appreciated painter. I noticed that the combination of my career as a scientist and my creative expressions became an uniqe artistic voice. When i started getting feedback from viewers i felt that i was really on to something -i had become an artist.
Appreciation comes in many forms, i really love to talk about my art with viewers especially at an exhibition but online is a good option as well. When people take the time to look at my painting and ask questions i feel i have reached my goal. Selling art is of course wonderful and creates a bond between me and the person who decides to take a painting home. It gives me opportunity to finance new painting material and travels to new places where i can exhibit my art. But the bottom line is always the viewers appreciation and reception of my message about the ocean.
My first exhibition was in 2015 and from then on i have relentlessly kept on painting and showing my art. This is what i want to do – to paint pictures and tell stories about the ocean