The Curtains, 2026

Printmaking and watercolor on textile, found objects, hair, yarn, salt, wood

After the death of a family member I collected things from their home, things that would be discarded, like two sheets and decorative knobs, which became the installation’s curtains and the finials of the curtain rods. Feeling loss, frustration and numbness, I collected belongings of the person—aware of the emotional connection we have to our belongings, believing that those things are just as related to us as our voice and body. Through this work, I wanted to explore the notion of traces left behind in such belongings. The idea of the form of the curtain came from its association with secrecy—something hidden behind it, something being covered up, something unknown. A common thread throughout the work is the reimagining of imprints and traces; printmaking on fabric pieces, carving in wood, the larger symbols in watercolor. Those symbols are altered and abstracted from the smaller symbols to evoke a ghostly presence, as if someone had rested on the textile, sweating and leaving behind strands of hair. Alongside these imagined traces, the sewing and handling of the fabric left traces of my own on the material. Exhibited during the graduation exhibition ”Allt Sjunger s/om Fantomer” 2026, at Gallery Verkligheten, Umeå.