Barbro Bäckström

Barbro Bäckström is best known for her seemingly simple reliefs and sculptures of the human body. They are usually made in iron mesh but she has also made sculptures in materials such as bronze and plastic. The motifs range from minimalist torsos and half-figure bodies to small works depicting selected body parts such as hands, tummies and breasts. The empty spaces are sculpted to carry both volume and monumentality. The undulating human bodies are brought to life by the play of shadows created by moving in front of them.
In 1991, one year after her death, Malmö Konsthall presented a retrospective exhibition of Bäckström's art over three decades, the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The exhibition text aptly described the balance between the human forms, the strong materials and the timeless motifs:
'The sculptor's interest is usually the relationship between volume and mass, but Barbro Bäckström's sculptures are consistently shells, containers, casings and skin - seed capsules that carry life, bellies, backs, wings, hands. All made in different materials. From light aluminium, plastic, iron cloth, metal wire to more massive materials such as bronze. The net sculptures, like drawings in space, classical in form, may seem simple, as if the headwind is moulded around people's bodies. But there is a lot of hard work behind them, with ball-peen hammers, chisels and hard knocks. When Barbro Bäckström, after almost twenty years, has developed the figurative net drawings to perfection, she suddenly abandons them. 'I want a form that is alive", she said in a newspaper interview, "that feels close and is close to all of us". You don't have to describe the whole body. A little bit at a time is enough.''

Barbro Bäckström studied at Konstfack from 1960 to 1964 and also trained as a drawing teacher. After completing her studies, she settled in Lund with her husband, the artist Holger Bäckström. The Moderna Museet collection includes both sculptures and fantastic drawings. She is also represented at Malmö Konstmuseum; after Holger Bäckström's death in 1997, nearly 300 works from her estate were donated to the museum, and the Barbro & Holger Bäckström Scholarship Fund awards an annual scholarship to a Swedish artist. Barbro Bäckström also created a large number of public works, including in Malmö, Jönköping and Lund.