9 September 2023 – 4 Mars 2024
Exhibition Curators: Tessa Praun & Sofia Ringstedt
The collection presentation Skin of the Soul explores the body as both a site for our inner experiences and a barrier that protects us. The works in the exhibition examine how emotions such as sorrow, fear, desire, and lust can manifest physically, and how our physical experiences, in turn, can leave deep emotional imprints.
In various ways, the works relate to the interplay between our external and internal lives, and to the human need to let things in or out. The body can be both charged or disarming, in control or dominated. Often, it is also tied to cultural and social conventions. This is reflected in portrayals of intimate coexistences, physical embodiments of the human subconscious, as well as expressions of drives and desires. Many works starkly contrast societal notions and challenge narrow ideas about the body, good taste, and taboos.
Linnéa Sjöberg’s practice and personal life frequently merge in art projects spanning several years. With fervent dedication, she has adopted roles ranging from a driven career woman to a traveling tattoo artist. Since 2016, she also works with textile and weaving. Initially, her textile works served as a way for her to archive her performance works. However, Falling Gestures (2020) and Tracing of sand grains (2019) are independent works, where the conceptual has given way to the narrative.
These tapestries were born out of Sjöberg’s exploration into BDSM, in which individuals seek mutual pleasure through forms of sexual power exchange. The play may involve restricting someone’s freedom of movement, either
physically or mentally, which is portrayed in Tracing of sand grains. In the weavings, connections to BDSM are
implied through materials, methods, and motifs. Sjöberg has a strong relationship with the clothes and accessories embedded in the tapestries, which in many respects are self-portraits. As another layer, she sometimes incorporates text to enhance the physical impressions within the works. In Falling Gestures, both the title and the imagery convey the sensation of losing or letting go of control.
I use text in the weave so the viewer can follow the movement through their own body. It can be an external tactile sensation or a deeper emotional state. – Linnéa Sjöberg
Catalouge for download here