Growing Astray
Lina Jaros, b.1981 in Stockholm, Sweden
linajaros.com
Lina Jaros project in Fallsbjörken is a series of large-scale photographs where paper figures of plants and animals interact in various ways with the existing nature.
Growing Astray is a series of photographs from the forest around Fallsbjörken, where natural landscapes are distorted with the use of paper sculptures. The forest has been transformed into a scene, where life and vegetation are displaced from its original context, rooted in unlikely places. The project explores the image of the unnatural and unlikely, where romantic nature meets a wry reality.
—Lina Jaros 2017
Chrysalis
David Åberg, b.1977 in Stockholm, Sweden
davidaberg.se
In Fallsbjörken, David Åberg sketched digitally in his iPad with the use of a car battery. He was mainly interested in odd shapes of tree formations, and imagined a narrative taking place in our inner fantasy worlds.
My last animation Chrysalis had its starting point in Fallsbjörken. Its abstract narrative grew from the nature and tree formations in a forest grove.
—David Åberg 2017
The chrysalis is a butterfly in its development stage as a pupa, an embodiment of potential, an image of a yet unfulfilled transformation into life and beauty. This intersection is also the focal point of David Åberg’s art, thematically/philosophically as well as from a purely technical point of view. David Åberg sculpts the non-existing, virtual shapes and bodies moving freely in a non-gravitational digital space. His chisel is the computer, material aspects can be reduced to arithmetics.
—Calle Ljungström, Christian Larsen Gallery 2017
Reflection
Filippa Barkman, b.1982 in Stockholm, Sweden
filippabarkman.com
While studying the vegetation of surrounding nature, Filippa Barkman worked on a series of drawings and watercolor paintings. A diversity of characters interacts in staged narratives that are both beautiful and fragile.
Reflection: the connection to Fallsbjörken is self-reflection, which I devoted myself to at the chalet and in the surrounding nature. It’s a certain state of mind that occur when you are completely alone for a longer period of time. I made many sketches in Fallsbjörken, of vegetation and wildlife, and was very productive for some time when returning to my urban studio space.
—Filippa Barkman 2017
In Reflection, Barkman has posited herself on her knees, leaning over a liquid surface, solemnly contemplating the mirrored image of her own face. With her wet hair almost touching the ripples, one gets the impression that she has recently steeped her head into the dark fluid. The allusion is unequivocal—no one who is familiar with the Greek myth of Narcissus can escape it. The young and beautiful Narcissus—lost in pride, disdaining those who loved him—was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection, unaware of its mere imagery.
—Astrid Grelz Andersson, Stene Projects 2015
Book of Nineteen Nocturnes
Jim Holyoak, b. 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
monstersforreal.com
Jim Holyoaks visit to Fallsbjörken was one stop in a longer hiking journey including Kungsleden and northern Norway. He gathered inspiration and worked on his ongoing project Book of Nineteen Nocturnes. In Fallsbjörken, he had a particular interest in cloud formations.
Book of Nineteen Nocturnes is a hand-drawn novel, 500 pages long, divided into nineteen accordion books. Much of the text and images were developed while traveling (often trekking) and attending residencies throughout Nordic Europe, Canada, the Himalayas and China.
The story is set in a forest without sunrise, populated by wandering monsters. It is about being lost, lonely and homesick. Although it relates to graphic novels and illustrated books of fairy-tales, the act of turning the original, drawn pages is an experience akin to an encounter with an illuminated manuscript or a grimoire.
—Jim Holyoak 2017
Woodlands
Nanna Hellberg, b.1980 in Stockholm, Sweden
nannahellberg.com
Woodlands consist of a series of abstract paintings inspired by wolf patches from the 1800th Century. These were mainly used as hunting gear during wolf hunts, but were also placed alongside the pastures, trusting they would protect the animals from evil harm. Nanna Hellberg placed the paintings in various settings around the area of Fallsbjörken, and combined them with old local witness tales of werewolves seen in the nearby villages.
The project deals with the historical and cultural tensions of the wolf, combined with the mythological aspects of color symbolism; the belief that a color and particular pattern could control and keep “the wild and dangerous” away.
—Nanna Hellberg 2016
Stele
Nestori Syrjälä, b.1983 in Eura, Finland
nestorisyrjala.com
In his artworks, Nestori Syrjälä examines the environmental crisis, a theme that became more current in the primitive working conditions of Fallsbjörken. The Stele (I - VII) project is a series of objects that blend quotes from a World War I veteran, Dante Alighieri and leading climate scientists, who all deals with trauma and grief.
I often think about Fallsbjörken, it’s a magical place and reminds me of weightless sailing trips…
—Nestori Syrjälä 2018
Things tend to grow and develop logically. The collapse is usually sudden and unexpected, taking place in ways that defy the imagination.
What if robotics and artificial intelligence cannot be perfected before ecological crises cause fossil-fueled capitalism to crumble and shatter the material foundation of technological development?
The end of a world is the beginning of another world.
—HAM Helsinki Art Museum 2016
Fallsbjörkens Ateljéprogram is an independent initiative founded in 2013 and run by the association of Fallsbjörkens Ateljéprogram. The staff members include Nanna Hellberg (founder), Timothy Hallstedt and Patrik Nykvist.
Contact us through the e-mail address:
fallsbjorken@gmail.com
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We are grateful for the support from Leksand Municipality, Dalarna County Council and Längmanska Culture Foundation.