• photography Sanna Lindberg

    Exploring the Artistry of Ellen Hedin: Where Function Meets Sculpture

    Written by Astrid Birnbaum by Astrid Birnbaum

    Ellen Hedin, a Swedish furniture designer, goes beyond the boundaries between functionality and artistry through her innovative use of materials and keen eye for contrasts. Ellen's discernible penchant for contrasts manifests in her material selection, underscoring her profound affinity for the natural world. Her oeuvre serves as a conduit for elevating mundane existence into art, extracting the inherent magic permeating our daily lives. Through the infusion of organic elements into her pieces, she beckons viewers to contemplate the intricate interplay between materiality and life itself.

    - I am like a magpie, I collect things that stir something within me. Then the stick, the shell, or the deer skull can lie dormant, waiting for me, until suddenly one morning I wake up with an idea and understand how they fit together and how they should be used. I believe that all materials have an inherent history; it's just about bringing them out, getting them to speak. Wood, steel, and bone can bear the memory of places, processes, and people.

    Ellen intricately weaves together the realms of function and sculpture in her furniture, acknowledging the inherent fusion within the broader artistic landscape. While she strives to create pieces that are either purely sculptural or purely utilitarian, her creations often embody a harmonious synthesis of both domains:

    - My hope is that people can recognize themselves in both a kind of melancholy but also in a romantic, somewhat mystical image of the world in my furniture. Someone once said that my furniture is more like artefacts than furniture, I thought that was a nice description but for me, functionality is also important, I believe it deepens the connection. My furniture is both charged and to some extent also alive, it's direct, both in the design and in the expression,” she shares.

    Through her work, she emphasises the vital role of human interaction, whether her pieces adorn domestic spaces or grace the walls of gallery exhibitions. This emphasis underscores the intrinsic value of functionality in her artistic practice, enriching the viewer's experience with each encounter. One of Ellen's most captivating creations, “Tell,” stands as a testament to her fervent storytelling and material exploration. Drawing inspiration from the rich tapestry of Swedish tradition, particularly the practice of divination with molten tin, this cabinet serves as a vessel for her personal narratives and cherished memories.

    - Tell was born on New Year's Eve a few years ago. We predicted the upcoming year in tin. Naturally, I poured in the most tin and received the biggest prophecy of all. While everyone else was busy analysing their predictions, I had already begun to contemplate how I could use my prickly, fragile, yet also sharp and heavy lump of tin. Sometimes I have an almost childlike delight in certain things; this prophecy felt awe-inspiring, as if it carried a kind of meaning I couldn't grasp.

    Within the intricate design of “Tell,” elements of childhood wonder, familial bond, profound narrative depth:

    - It wasn't until I felled a tree for the first time some months later on my father's farm in Färingsö outside Stockholm that I felt the same sensation again. I then understood that the large log I had felled was connected to the tin casting, that the materials were speaking to each other and were meant to be together.

    Beyond her individual artistic pursuits, Ellen is also an integral part of Misschiefs, where she maintains her studio:

    - Misschiefs has provided me with a sense of community and a studio, which allows me to focus on my artistic work and learn a great deal from all the incredible people in the studio. It's a safe space and a secure environment, which means I don't need to worry as much about what others think or spend so much time trying to fit in,” Ellen shares. “I get to be myself at Misschiefs, and that has made me braver.

    Each artefact crafted by Ellen embodies a unique saga, inviting viewers to embark on a journey through the intricate nexus of materiality, functionality, and artistic ingenuity. Her avant-garde approach to material manipulation and meticulous attention to detail continually push the boundaries of traditional furniture design. In doing so, Ellen blurs the dichotomy between form and function, sculpture and utility, challenging conventions and inviting a reevaluation of the relationship between art and everyday life.

    photography Sanna Lindberg
  • Lars Wallin x Enzo Bartoli Rosato

    Written by Fashion Tales

    In celebration of the arrival of spring, Lars Wallin and Enzo Bartoli Rosato are launching a collaboration where rosé wine is draped in couture. The internationally acclaimed fashion designer has crafted a new visual expression for the popular rosé wine and designed a blush shimmering couture dress to be worn at selected events. The dress will later be auctioned off. The limited edition of Enzo Bartoli Rosato will be available on the shelves of Systembolaget from April 9th.

    It has been five years since Lars Wallin met Enrico Gobino, marketing manager at MGM Mondo del Vino and producer of wines from Piedmont, including the legendary Enzo Bartoli. The dream of uniting their passions for fashion and wine has been present since their initial meeting, resulting in both the “Friends of Enzo” circle and the current collaboration with Enzo Bartoli Rosato.

    “It has been incredibly enjoyable to embark on this unique collaboration with my friends Enrico Gobino and Andreas Wickman at Lively Wines. Having the opportunity to interpret rosé wine through a couture dress made from the finest Italian fabrics has been a delight. The dress will also feature a label with the text Fabulous in rosé * Enzo Bartoli Edizione Lars Wallin* Suddenly the world seems to be such a perfect place*. The label gives the impression that the fabric is draped around the edges, and the bottle boasts a beautiful glass cork. Our intention is for the bottle to be reusable,” says Lars Wallin.

    An Interpretation of the Rosé Season

    The couture dress and the new label's forms and visual expressions symbolise Lars Wallin's interpretation of Enzo Bartoli Rosato and the rosé season. Here, we see a feminine edge with attitude, summery tones, and light transparent materials. The pink dress is a tuxedo dress with a train. Layers upon layers of silk organza and tulle, with the base being a shimmering silk charmeuse woven with silver threads to create a metallic effect. The fabrics are produced by the renowned textile manufacturer Canepa at Lake Como, which was also the location where photographer Hampus Forssander captured the beautiful atmospheric images.

    “We are immensely proud of our wines and our loyal friends 'Friends of Enzo'. That's why it's particularly exciting that Lars, who knows us and our wines so well, has created his interpretation for this year's limited edition,” says Enrico Gobino.

    image courtesy of Hampus Forssander

  • From screen to canvas: Malin Molin's meditations on contemporary imagery

    Written by Natalia Muntean

    I seek more freedom through my paintings,” says Swedish artist Malin Molin as we stand in front of Dear eyes, what are you looking at?, one of her works from her current solo show, Ekfraser. Born in Gothenburg in 1989, Molin is exhibiting for the second time in a solo show, Ekfrases (Ekphrases), at Gallery Wetterling in Stockholm. Derived from the Greek ekfras, the title describes a commentary on a visual work of art, with the artist intending to offer a commentary on today’s culture of image.

    Molin says she has an ambiguous relationship with the images we see online, and in our everyday lives. She is equally fascinated and enthralled by the neverending stream of imagery that can be found online, while also rebelling through her paintings against these same images deciding so many things for us, without us even being aware of it happening. The starting point for the colour-saturated paintings making up the exhibition are prompts given to AI software, such as Open Ai's Dall-e 3 or Midjourney. This is an essential part of Molin's attempt to understand the systems of image production that shape our reality, desires, minds, and bodies while counterbalancing these systems with oil painting. “I wanted to bring the flat images we see online and bring more movement, more body, more physicality to them. I believe that paintings offer the possibility of more immersion, more interaction and more awareness of your physical body,” she says about the movement, and livelihood even, present in her works. Rather than focusing on their visual meaning, Molin aims to draw attention to how the images were constructed. While the images are mostly inspired by animal and vegetal motifs, they are characterised by artificial lighting and a pinch of eccentricity.

    I always feel a sense of dread before an exhibition and a feeling of it not being good enough,” she confesses. This time these feelings pushed her to start working on one more addition to the exhibition just two weeks before the opening, with the painting depicting two cats with circles ending up as the centrepiece of the show. Molin credits meditation for her success with painting, considering it one of her main rituals before facing the canvas, a space where she activates her sense of intuition and lets it guide her brushes and strokes.

    Ultimately, through Ekfrases, Molin aims to examine how our daily consumption of media and the inundation of images in contemporary culture affects us. “I wanted to merge these images that we see every day with questions such as: who are we or what do we seek,” says the artist.

    The show is on display at Wetterlling Gallery in Stockholm from March 14 until April 20, 2024.

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