Linn Fernström

Linn Fernström, born in 1974 in Örebro, established herself as a prominent artist around the turn of the millennium. Bukowskis is pleased to present the painting "Strutsilusti" from 1998, which was featured in the artist's graduation exhibition in 2000.

In this early work, we see an ostrich portrayed with a dazed look against a clear blue sky. The canopy of heaven is punctuated by birds and exotic animals that seem to have been flung into the blue. It is a suggestive and dreamlike pictorial world that stands out both technically and colouristically. Mårten Castenfors, the Swedish art critic, wrote in the essay "A Disturbance Transmitter in the World" in connection with the exhibition: "Already at the Royal Institute of Art's graduation exhibition in 2000 at Galleri Mejan in Stockholm, Fernström revealed herself as a bold solitary who undoubtedly allowed her figures to figure in the most unlikely contexts. Fernström clearly wanted to take up space; she assertively and naturally occupied her room by working in a surprisingly large format."

The painting up for auction is one of the smaller works from this period of emerging monumental painting. Fernström creates breathtaking compositions where the self is used as a tool for a narrative about life. Like the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Fernström employs animals to symbolise emotional and psychological states. Kahlo often painted monkeys, dogs, and deer as companions in her self-portraits, where they represented vulnerability or protection. Fernström also includes animals—birds, exotic creatures, and butterflies—but in a more surreal and narrative context, where the animals become part of a dreamlike scene rather than a direct symbol of the artist's inner life.

Linn Fernström occupies a unique position in Swedish contemporary art. Like a child's unpretentious way of experiencing the world around them, the artist allows the wonders of life to generate dreams and fantasies in a wholly recognisable environment. Stubborn and persistent, and completely uninterested in trends, she has created her own platform. She paints large and figuratively at a time when art discourse has long focused on investigations and processes.