‘Gissa Vem (The Future Looking Into The Present From The Past)’, 2011
35.5x28cm Oil on Canvas
‘Gissa Vem (Presence through Absence)’ 2011 29x21cm Mixed media on canvas
Det Var En Gang (Once Upon A Time) 30×25.5 cm Mixed Media on Canvas
As part of FADs support for emerging artists we have teamed up with The Other Art Fair to showcase 14 of the exhibiting artists at Boxpark.
The Artists where chosen by Ryan Stanier (Fair Director TOAF) and Mark Westall ( Creative Director FAD) and they will have a piece of their work exhibited by poster In an exhibition at The Boxpark Gallery.
There will also be an art opening on Thursday May 3rd which will have live + performance art, Music + free drink + much more.
In the lead up to this event FAD will be showcasing each of the 14 Artists who were chosen
#NINE: Pernilla Iggstrom
1.If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
A: I have known since I was a young child that I wanted to be an artist but I took a detour of 16 years to work in the business and corporate environment in Europe and Asia. Four and a half years ago I left Singapore where I had lived for eleven and a half years to move to London to realise my dream of a degree in fine art. During my professional years, I have experienced a lot which come to use now being an artist.
I would love to own and run an art venture if I wasn’t an artist. I would otherwise likely be in PR or in the travel industry as I love to see new cultures and meet people.
2. Can you tell us more about your work and what are the main ideas you would like to express?
A: I was born in Asia but grew up in Sweden where I arrived as a 8 month old baby. I am interested in exploring my multicultural identity and whom I’ve become through my life experiences. In today’s multicultural world and interest in self contemplation – identity is an important factor as many of us are interested to find out who we are, where we come from and how that makes us who we are. Even though I am using personal photos from my family albums, I aim to make my work less personal so that I can offer the viewer a more general platform to facilitate a connection with their own personal story.
I am exploring the nature/nurture element and the relation between the past and the present, the interior and the exterior and the psychological and the physical. Looking Asian myself but feeling blond and blue-eyed inside as a result of having grown up in Sweden, people automatically presume I am Asian, born and bread. But when I speak and when they see the way I move, things don’t match and questions arise. Stereotypes and expectations need to be shaken up so as to challenge people’s perception of the world around them.
I am interested in the discussions about what’s on the inside, behind the first visible exterior of a person and the multitude of interesting combinations that exist.
3. How do you start the process of making work?
I often photo copy photos from my family albums which I make into collages, or I trace silhouettes and create stencils. I then transfer these outlines to a surface and either paint them or include the stencils in the work itself. Before that I have prepared a somewhat figurative colour ground on the surface to create a depth in the final piece to refer to the past in relation to the present or the future, or the interior and the exterior.
4. Do you consider the viewer, when making your work?
A: Definitely. As my main aim is for my art to act as a spring board for people to challenge their perception about their own identity and that of others – communication with the viewer is key. The aim is to stimulate a variety of emotions and experienced or new situations to the viewer.
5. Name 3 artists that have inspired your work?
A: Gerhard Richter, Robert Rauschenberg and Candice Breitz.
6. Name 3 of your least favourite artists.
A: I struggle to find value in a plastic bag that has been taped to a wall. Successful work for me is when it has been created with passion (personal element), technical ability and in a personal style. The artist also needs to be true to his/her work and should not be created on a commercial basis. I want to feel euphoric and excited when I look at something. One artist whose work I do find hard to appreciate, though, is that of Thomas Hirschhorn.
7. What defines something as a work of art?
A: Anything that has a creative element to it and a thought process behind it. What defines it, however, is its level of value, how many people does it touch? It can have two values; one based on how much it has influenced the arts, and the other on the level of truthfulness the artist has applied that keep people returning to it.
8. In times of austerity, do you think art has a moral obligation to respond topically?
A: Not necessarily. In time of austerity, people would rather need beauty, narratives and other alternatives to occupy their minds as a diversion from the stark reality. Art is timeless in the sense that its subject matter is most of the time about life anyway.
9. Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
A: I would have loved to be Leonardo Da Vinci – to have that extraordinary broad talent, for both the arts and the science, and to have the chance to experience as much as he did through his commissions and travel.
10. What is your favourite ‘ism’?
A: Abstract Expressionism
11. What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?A: I was very touched when a friend’s teenage son had a long look at my work and later on said that he really could identify with what I am depicting – he himself being of Finnish origin but living in Sweden. I had not expected him to take such an interest in my work.
12. And the dumbest?
I cant recall anyone saying anything dumb about my work but I remember a visitor at my degree show poking his finger into a thick, still not dry blob of paint, right in front of me, which I found very disturbing.
13. Which artists would you most like to rip off, sorry, I mean appropriate as a critique of originality and authorship?
A: Robert Rauschenberg! I would have loved to meet him in person and to collaborate with him! Apart from being inspired by his continuous drive to work and his brilliant intellect, I admire him as he has had such an impact on the arts.
14. Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
A: Yes and no. Yes, as it would be a privilege to be able to life off my art works, and as its price tag will nevertheless state the art work’s significance and be a reflection of the time, effort and resources invested into its creation. And no, as my passion for creating art supercedes that.
15. If Moma and the Tate and the Pompidou wanted to acquire one of your works each, which would you want them to have?
Moma I would like to house my large green abstract that I made for my Foundation show. For Tate and Pompidou, I would like to create something new, perhaps under the umbrella of the ‘Gissa Vem’ series.
16. What’s next for you?
A: In May I am participating in The Other Art Fair, and am represented at BoxPark Shoreditch leading up to The Other Art Fair. Later in May I will be in the event ‘WORD – A Fabelist-Pop Up Circus Exhibition and Festival’.
I am also planning a large scale art project. It will take some time and effort to put together but I am very excited and passionate about it.
The Other Art Fair + FAD pre fair party Thursday May 3rd 2012 from 6pm at Boxpark
Join The Facebook Event for more info and a free drink: www.facebook.com/
