Jag vandrar under träden – Sub arboribus ambulo – I walk under the trees
10 april – 9 may 2021
Floras Rike
Gothenburg Botanical Gardens
Participating artists: Sofia Bankeström, Staffan Jonsson, Li Liang, Sanna Wallgren and Hendrik Zeitler
An exhibition of art jewellery and art photography inspired by the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens. The exhibition is curated by Hnoss Initiative and is made in collaboration with Botanical Gardens. Five local artists, five different voices, invited to look for inspiration by the gardens, as well as the title of the project ”I walk under the trees”.
A collaborative exhibition, showing new individual artworks, developed during 2020/21.
The exhibition is part of Gothenburg Craft Days that take place in the end of the exhibition period, 6-9 of May.
Sofia Bankeström
Sofia Bankeström, b 1986, is a jewellery artist, educated at HDK, Gothenburg and Alchimia Contemporary jewellery school, Florence. The topics of her work revolves around nature and long time perspectives.
“During a visit to the greenhouse, the Toromiro tree caught my attention. This small tree is extinct in the wild and has through winding routes found its way to Gothenburg Botanical Garden. Through this work, the history of Easter Island, which is marked by colonialism and exploitation, has become visible to me, and the tree has become a symbol of a lost world. In my works the tree has adapted in order to defend itself – a different ending can be glimpsed.”
Staffan Jonsson
Old Engraving-chisel with hand-carved handle, old screw, 18 karat gold.
Staffan Jonsson, b.1983, is a jewellery artist living and working in Gothenburg, Sweden. ”As an artist I use human activity and relations as a starting point. How we relate to each other and to our surroundings.”
“In this work, my starting point has been a literal interpretation of walking under the trees. My works are physical representations of thoughts that I’ve had during walks. I have thought of trees as individuals and as worlds in themselves. I have thought of life and death and what a beginning, an end and a continuation are. Through five different works I’ve looked at the cyclical, the temporary and the “eternal”, which is what life means to me.”
Li Liang
Li was born in China and lives and works in Sweden. She studied at HDK, Academy of Design and Crafts, University of Gothenburg and was one of the Marzee Graduate Prize winners. “Art is a way to interpret the world. I use my work to create understanding and communication with others.”
“For me, there are two parts in the existence of a tree. One part is quite tangible and visible above the ground, the other is hidden deep under the ground and only rarely seen. When I walk through the forest, when the broken dead branches creak from foot steps, the trees will also direct my attention to the ground under my feet. The roots wind under the ground, they absorb nutrients and water from the soil so that the tree can grow. A tree’s canopy and its roots exist in two completely different environments. The canopy responds to the calling of the sun, and the roots reach out to the water source. Each is completing a task given by nature.”
Sanna Wallgren
Sanna Wallgren, b. 1986, is a jewellery artist from Skara, Sweden, educated at HDK and now based in Gothenburg. Her work is focused on themes related to the human body and with the technique of anodizing she aimes to create an ambiguous fantasy world.
“I think of parks as hybrids between the city and nature. By creating an ordered environment we can take nature into the city and bring it closer to man. In my work, I use the anodization technique, which has a strong connection with outdoor activities and sporting equipment. In this project, I wanted to explore an expression close to vegetation, and I have taken a starting-point in foliation’s repetition of forms. This, in combination with materials that have a connotation of man’s attraction to nature, has resulted in the objects in this exhibition.”
Hendrik Zeitler
Hendrik Zeitler, b.1975, is a photographer originally from Germany, now living and working in Angered/Gothenburg. With the special ability of photography to observe and describe our time, Zeitler presents his works in books as well as exhibitions. The last few years he has been working with cameraless photography, a technique that is both abstract and true to the motive regarding shape and scale.
“The main purposes of botanical gardens is education, research and preservation – in my picture series I have portrayed cultivated plants that visitors often meet for the first time. Where these are grown, they are often seen as the greatest threats to biodiversity, and are treated with pesticides that are a direct threat to the people who harvest them, and they often require a lot of water in already dry areas. One of the plants, however, is victim to mankind’s rampage – through sheep-grazing and deforestation the species has been decimated to a few examples right here.”