Fredrik Strid
Studio grant holder in Stockholm 1 October 2019 – 31 March 2020
Kjell Fredrik Strid. Born 1973 in Torshälla. Lives and works in Persbo Studio, Norra Uppland (Uppsala).
My works are all linked to the world of nature. I use nature as a springboard towards a theme. The works often have an immediate style, with distinctly familiar features that stand in direct relation to subjects such as melancholy, transience, the sublime, romance and identity, which, in turn, generate underlying strata of meaning. With conceptual insights, I find inspiration in nature, research, natural history museums, and also in art and literature.
Photo: Fredrik Strid
At Iaspis, I will pursue my project Alla fåglar i Sverige (All the Birds in Sweden). I have picked one element from the tradition of Christian vanitas painting: the candle. Using the symbolism of the brevity of life in relation to the nature of birds, I problematise and highlight issues of national identity. In all its simplicity, the project covers “all” the birds in Sweden in their natural size, modelled in clay to produce a silicon mould, before finally casting them in candle wax with a wick.
Some 300-320 bird species are found in Sweden, and my ambition is to sculpt all these birds and show them together in a sacral installation. This is a monumental and laborious project and I expect to complete it in 2021.
Alongside this, I will also embark on a book project with the same title, Alla fåglar i Sverige. Writers have been invited to contribute independent essays on the theme; the preliminary publishing date is 2021.
MA in Fine Arts from the Malmö Art Academy in 2005.
Interdisciplinary Studios under Professor Mary Kelly UCLA, (2004-05).
Selected exhibitions: Malmö Konstmuseum, Ystads Konstmuseum, Kunsthaus Dresden, OR-Gallery, the Peter Dass Museum, Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius.
Research collaborations: The Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Curator at the Signal art centre in Malmö, 2005–2008.
Since 2010, I have been in charge of the sculpture part and artist residence at Persbo Studio (persbostudio.com).
I am currently featured in the group exhibition Non-Human Animal at Uppsala Konstmuseum, opening on 28 September, 2019, and the solo show The Raven at Kulturhuset Storbrunn in Östhammar, opening 1 October, 2019.