Artist in Residence, Stockholm 6 May 2024 – 27 October 2024

Leif Holmstrand is a Swedish artist, writer, and musician residing in Malmö, born in 1972. They explore queer themes, and, according to their own statement, adopt an anti-straight approach, focusing on topics such as drug and trans experiences, homosexual prostitution, gayness, and bodily subversiveness. Their work encompasses various techniques, with recurring elements including assemblage, collage, textile, crocheting, and a fusion of sculpture, costume, props, and scenography.

Photo: Vadim Martynenko

ZARYA Center for Contemporary Art Vladivostok, 2018

During their residency at IASPIS, Holmstrand aims to delve into diverse subjects, all connected to the body, gender fluidity, and non-heteronormative experiences. Interview transcripts, hemp cords, observations from Japan, and collected debris may converge in costume projects, soundscapes, images, and objects. Their creative process involves crocheting, composing, writing, and building.

Holmstrand received their primary education at the Academy of Arts in Malmö, earning their degree in 2002, and have previously studied literature in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Notable recent solo exhibitions include Life of the Termites: The End (2024) at Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; and From the Deep (2021–2022) at Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, Sweden. Their performance works include Untitled (2024), a collaboration with the artist collective OLTA at Umewaka Noh Theater, Tokyo, Japan; and Going Like Elsie (2019), a happening and funeral ceremony at Kiyosumi-teien ryotei, Tokyo, Japan. Additionally, their works have been showcased internationally, such as Nonsense Translation (2018) at Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, Russia.

Holmstrand’s latest published books include Community (2024), a collection of poetry published by pa-parant, The Cartographer’s Tower (2023), a novel published by Pequod Press, and Not the World (2022), a poetry collection published by Bonniers.