Karin Häll (MFA) is an artist, based in Stockholm, working with sculpture, drawings and installations
About artists：My work reflects a universal interplay where human changeability is put in focus, artwork that in different ways relates to phantoms and life’s demands. Each piece has its own story where the point of departure has been to describe a societal phenomenon or a particular condition. I’m working in various materials and consistently use simple, recurrent, often archetypal symbols and statements to allow the recognizable to be charged with ambivalence.
KARIN HÄLL www.karinhaell.se
CV
EDUCATION:
2018 Post Master, Negotiations of Writing, University College of Art, Craft, Design 2016-17 Post Master Royal Institute of Art, projekt, Printmaking
1985 -91 University College of Art, Craft, Design, Master of Fine Art Stockholm 1983-85 Idun Loven Artschool, sculptur, Stockholm
1982-83 Nyckelviksskolan, Stockholm
SOLOSHOWS:
2018 Passagen, Linkopings Konsthall 2018 Kludd Projectroom, Bandhagen 2018 Konstfrämjandet Karlstad
2018 Örnsköldsviks Konsthall
2018 Konstfrämjandet Värmland
2017 ID:I Galleri, Stockholm
2016 Schillers Palais, Berlin
2015 Projectroom, Studio44 Stockholm 2015 Vallentuna Kulturhus
2015 Supermarket International Art Fair, Stockholm
2011 Anekdoter, arr Tempoart/Västmanlands Läns Museum, Västerås 2010 eartht isn’t earth, Konstfrämjandet, Örebro
2009 KAZ Galleri, Västerås
2008 Museum of Art, Vetlanda
2007 Teatergalleriet, Kalmar
2006 Konstepidemin, Göteborg
2004 Galleri PS, Göteborg
2001 Härnösands Konsthall
GROUPSHOWS:
2019 Norrtälje Konsthall
2019Rönnells Antikvariat, Stockholm
2018 Hilbert Raum, Berlin
2017 Alma Löv Museum i Värmland
2017 Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm
2017 Side by side ID:I Stockholm
2017 Husby Konsthall , Husby
2016 Vetlanda Museum of Art
2016 Art Athina, Internationale Contemporary Art Fair 2016, Athen 2015 Encounter, Studio44 Stockholm
2015 Museum of drawingart, Laholm
2014 ÄGD, Fullersta Gård, Huddinge
2014 Psyke, Studio44, Stockholm
2013 Konstforum, Norrköping
2013 ÄGD, Väsby Kungsgård, Sala
2013 Konstforum, Norrköping
2013 Galleri HUUTO, Helsingfors, Finland
2012/13 Multipel nu. Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg 2012 Galleri Tegen 2, Stockholm
2012 Multipel nu, Museum of Art, Ystad 2012 Galerie Dada Post, Berlin, Tyskland 2012 Cirkulationscentralen, Malmö 2012 ÄGD, Stockholm
2012 Process-Space Art Festival 2012 , Balchic, Bulgaria
2012 What a mess, Art Fair, Hydrogenfabrikkens Kunsthall, Fredrikstad, Norway 2012 Arbetslinjen, Studio44 Stockholm
2011 Stilla natt, Tegen 2 Stockholm
2011 Art In Office Stockholm
2011 Labyrint, Studio44, Stockholm
2011 On the wall for all, V.Art 11, Värnamo
2011 Supermarket International artfair, Kulturhuset, Stockholm 2010 LAST, Studio44, Stockholm
2009 Alt_Cph 09- The Alternative Art Fair in Copenhagen
2009 Kunst Stoff:Natur, Forum fur Aktuelle Kunst, Starkow, Germany 2008 Konstnärshuset, Stockholm
2008 Syskon, Studio 44, Stockholm
2008 Endlich Menschlich, Galerie Montanaberlin, Berlin
2008 Drawings Studio 44, Stockholm
2007 Skulptur i parken, Kultur i länet, Wiks slott, Uppsala Läns Landsting 2005 Female spaces, South Africa National Gallery, Cape Town
WORK IN PUBLIC SPACES:
DIÖS/SIAB, Uppsala
Gatu-och Fastighetskontoret, Stockholm
REPRESENTED:
Swimminghall,Härnösands Ulvesunds Collage, Kungsör
City Library, Kalmar
Vetlanda Museum of art
Museum of Drawingart, Laholm Linköpings city
Ricklundsgårdens Museum, Saxnäs
GRANTS/RECIDENSIES:
2018 Arist in Residence, Loviisa, Finland
2018 Längmanska Kulturfonden
2018 Helge Axelsson Johnsons resestipendium
2016 Bror Marklunds Skulpturstipendium, Örnsköldsviks kommun och konsthall 2016 IASPIS, Konstnärsnämnden
2014 Ricklundgården, Saxnäs, Residency
2013 Västmanlands Landstings Kulturestipendium
2013 Clarence och Else Blums fond, Sveriges Konstnärers Förening
2012 IASPIS internationellt kulturutbyte, Helsingfors
2011-2012 Sveriges Bildkonstnärsfond, 2-årigt arbetsstipendium
2009 IASPIS internationellt kulturutbyte, Köpenhamn
2009 Ålands Kulturdelegation
2008 IASPIS international kulturexchange, Berlin
2006 Helge Axelsson Johnssons stiftelse, Italien
2003 Emma Ricklunds stiftelse
2001 Salagårdens kulturstiftelse, Delsbo kommun
2001 Kersti Lissmyrgården, Malungs kulturstiftelse
ARTRELATED WORK:
Editorial Staff, The culture journal Hjärnstorm 2016- Mentor, Grafikskolan Stockholm 2015
Member of the board Grafikskolan i Stockholm 2007-2013 Member of the board gallery ID: I Stockholm
Member of the board: Galleri Studio 44, Stockholm 2011
Teacher in fine art: Konstfack 2003, Norrköpings Art school 2003-05
Wiks Folkhögskola 2004-2010, Nyckelviksskolan 2011
AMAC – Wiks Folkhögskola/ AMAC Sydafrika 2005
Project manager: Skulptur i parken, Wiks slott, Uppsala läns landsting 2007 Konsthandläggare mm, Kultur I länet, Uppsala läns landsting 2010
The Roving Figures
– The drawings of Karin Häll
I walk slowly into myself, through a forest of empty suits of armor.
– Tomas Tranströmer
Swedish artist Karin Häll stuck several sketches of different sizes and shapes on the walls of her studio in Chuangku art community at Kunming: An eye, a tree, some gloomy faces, and The Life and Work, an artist’s handmade book from the coarse sandpaper. I was fascinated by the figures on these randomly arranged scrapes. They were lively yet slightly gloomy. It seemed as if they were talking to each other, yet they seem to have nothing to do with each other. These are moments from “life and work”, and figures invited by the artist to present themselves in between.
Karin was fond of drawing since she was a child. She was seriously criticized by the teacher for sketching in the textbooks, and was even asked to restore the books back to how they were look like. I can very much relate to her experience. Workbooks, textbooks, desks and walls could all be our canvas. No one can stop a person from drawing, just as you can’t stop a child from growing up.
We used to hike together on the outskirts of Kunming, enjoying the nature and overlooking the city. Drawing, she says, is much like hiking. It makes one relieved from the mental pressure. There is no pressure from “self-judgment” to do “official works”. I totally agree with that. Casual painting is very similar to hiking or walking. No specific reason or goal is needed. You’re just walking and drawing. After letting go the inner anxiety, you feel very much refreshed. They also often give people the illusion that we are busy and focused. In fact, more often than not, we are just being idle and distracted. It is said that the mind works best when distracted. Thoughts emerge naturally in inactivity, and then vanish automatically. Figures become the extension of roving thoughts, which in turn leads people to association and observing. That’s how we got the figures on the scraps of Karin’s paper. They are like the footprints of hiking in the hills, fresh, natural, firm and steady.
Karin’s drawings feature powerful lines and bold color bulks, emphasizing the contour of the figures and the stereoscopic aspect of them. This may have something to do with her sculpture practice. Her figures always start with bulky objects. In a recent exhibition, Karin used sculpture and finished products to make scattered black blocks on the wall. It seems as if they were fragments floating in the air or debris salvaged from the sea. In another work, “The Order of Things”, she put gloves, boots, books, plants, flowerpots and mud balls on a hilly setting of artificial hair. That very much reminds us the spaces in Giotto’s paintings, and the grotesque rocky mountains. The “finished” sculptures also offer us glimpses of Karin’s daily drawing practices: moving lines, wraparound bulks, and simple forms. Generally speaking, Karin would keep objects and figures apart from each other. But she could somehow make them associated with each other intrinsically. Those objects or figures are usually only half done. Or that’s how she intents people to see. This makes the figures detached from the roving thoughts, while the viewer’s attention is channeled to wander among the objects. She keeps the objects malleable, maintains the traces, and exposes the undertone. These are the labor work of her hands – covering, modifying, smearing, and emphasizing. That’s also how Karin works on her drawings. The traces of daubing and emphasizing are visible, and the paper being cut, bound, sewed and stuck. Although the drawings seem casual and were done freely, they demonstrate how she can control over the figures and strength to get particular feelings noticed. I think that’s the spirit.
As far as I can see, these figures are different moments from “life and work” that share common spiritual temperaments – fun, mysterious, and gloomy. For example, she likes to draw her left hand, figures from Nordic mythology, portraits shrouded in contemplation, and faces in the shadows. Besides, there are more bulky figures, such as houses, clouds, shoes, gloves, etc. This temperament might have come from the unique spiritual realm of northern Europe, championing simplicity and black. It reminds me of the patients in the ward of Munch’s paintings. Of course, there are some lovely and fun figures too. These figures, which are not deliberately created, have the same spiritual temperament. This is like a person who walks in a certain gait and posture that can be recognized from a distance.
An artist’s drawing is the most private stage, in which figures or texts are slowly come to present themselves. While the artist acts as the master of ceremonies, the figures come to look for their creator. It’s like how the Swedish poet Tranströmer put it that it’s not he who was looking for the lines, but the poems seek for him, begging to be presented. This is a mysterious process. Because of this, an artist or poet is not working on a mission that must be accomplished. Instead of forcing herself to create masterpieces, she just shares this process with others.
Without setting any frames and goals, she paints and smears freely. This is like natural breathing, strolling in the mountains, enjoying moments of silence, and preparing the figures to emerge. This is the pleasure and reflection brought to me by the mysterious and wonderful drawings of Karin Häll.
Luo Fei
September 30, 2019, Afternoon
Prague Cafe, Kunming
Translated by Nathan XiaoThe Roving Figures
– The drawings of Karin Häll
