I come from a Swedish/English/German family and grew up with my parents and siblings on the outskirts of a small town in Sweden. But I have been living in Barcelona for the last 15 years.
MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW
Sanna Völker
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Interview
Where were you born and where are you from?
What is your first memory connected to the art world?
Not the first, but an experience that impacted me intensely was seeing ‘The Weather Project’ by Olafur Eliasson at Tate Modern. I was about seventeen, and it absolutely blew my mind; I can still recall the amazement I felt.
Have you always worked in the art/design field?
I worked with lots of other stuff while studying and before being able to dedicate myself fully to design.
What led you to design creation?
When I was younger, I always saw myself working within a more sociological branch since I was (and still am) very interested in social science and human behaviour. At the same time, I really enjoyed hanging out in my Dad’s workshop in our basement, where I would create stuff from whatever I could find in there, but I just didn’t think of that as a profession. Yet in a way, I do include both of these interests in my work today.
How would you describe your creative process and its influences?
It kind of depends on the nature of the project. I really enjoy developing pieces for experimental briefs, such as curated exhibitions where I can truly delve into the storytelling of my work. I’m very conceptual and love doing research and conceptualizing. I’m also very interested in craft and how traditional materials or techniques can be transformed into a contemporary piece. And currently, I’m very drawn to the Japanese 1960’s movement Mono-Ha and that tension between the natural made and man-made. This topic of how nature influences man and man influences nature is a recurrent theme in my work. For shapes, materials, and light, I find a lot of inspiration from architecture and photography, while conceptually I love digging into the human brain for some interesting rarities.
Could you describe a typical day of your work?
My days are all quite different, to be honest. There is usually a combination of studio work, desk work, so to speak, and working together with the artisans in their workshops. This can be going to the stone quarry, visiting the ceramists, woodworkers, or trying out something new.
Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?
I love working with natural materials such as stone, wood, or clay. I like the fact that you can’t fully control them and therefore each piece have their unique personality. I find stone and the story that this material contains very intriguing. Each piece tells a story of origin and creation that, in some cases, goes back 500 million years.
What are the technical particularities of your creations?
My pieces are a dialogue between carefully calculated details and the uncontrollable aspects of the material and the handcrafting process. A combination that often presents technical challenges but is necessary in order to achieve the expression of balance that I’m looking for.
What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?
Trust your intuition and let things take time.
If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?
Contemporary, Scandinavian, brutalism.
What designers and artists have influenced you?
Charlotte Perriand, Hans J. Wegner, Note Design Studio, Norm Architects.
What contemporary designers do you appreciate?
Many, but to name a few from different approaches: Max Lamb, Sabine Marcelis, Francesco Balzano, Formafantasma, Studio Swine.
What contemporary artists, in any kind of art, have you been inspired by?
Lately, Lee Ufan, James Turell, Tadao Ando, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Louis Kahn.
If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?
A search for equilibrium between rawness and refinement, harmony and intrigue.
“Each piece tells a story of origin and creation that, in some cases, goes back 500 million years.”
The Questionnaire
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Connection
What is your greatest fear?
Loss
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Overthinking
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Negativity
Which living person do you most admire?
Those with a strong vocation
What is your greatest extravagance?
Stones
What is your current state of mind?
I would say balance. But this week it’s definitely introverted.. as always during PMS
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Extroversion ;)
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Feminity
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Masculinity
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Boncho
Which talent would you most like to have?
To draw
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Better shields
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
The sum of them
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Sam Wheat
Where would you most like to live?
In a restored factory
What is your most treasured possession?
My two grandmother’s rings
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Void
What is your favorite occupation?
Creating
What is your most marked characteristic?
Consistency
What do you most value in your friends?
Empathy
Who are your favorite writers?
Always changing
Who is your hero of fiction?
Hmm…
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Hmm…
Who are your heroes in real life?
The changers
What are your favorite names?
Nicknames
What is it that you most dislike?
Injustice. And the smell of whiskey
What is your greatest regret?
No regrets, only lessons learned
How would you like to die?
In peace
What is your motto?
Trust your guts
“My pieces are a dialogue between carefully calculated details and the uncontrollable aspects of the material and the handcrafting process.”
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