Eva Sjøwall

I develop and explore different techniques and particularly excel when chance and coincidence bring forth surprising results and new combinations in my art. I am both inspired and fascinated by challenging the use of different materials and the reactions between them in the creative process, towards the end result. Consequently, many of my works are charactherised by a strong sense of movement and force. 

My approach to the creative process is based on the notion: “Meetings are chemistry”

 We are all surrounded by chemical reactions in our daily lives. The experiences from interactions between people depends on chemistry, in the same way as encounters between different materials also depends on chemistry. Human encounters are usually first visual, and then we connect senses, interpretations, and emotions - If we allow them to develop.

I am deeply fascinated by chemistry - not only between people, but also between the various reactions and expressions that is created when different materials react with each other. I want to experience what happens when I combine different techniques and materials in different ways and let the “brain be in my hands”. Working with different tools, being it the obvious brush, a scrape, a sponge or a spatula, my hands are to a large extent controlling what is being transferred onto the paper or the canvas. 

Even the paper itself is very much part of the chemical process, reaction, and expression as well. Different types of paper react differently to different types of material. The paper I use is not only a means to decorate but is a crucial part of the final result based on what it is combined with.

My aspiration is that the different material reactions in the expressions provides different levels of interpretation for the viewer, and even different layers, and that they change and evolve over time – just like the experience of an interaction between human beings will develop and mature over time.

I mainly work in a modest and simple color palette.

The gallerist of Munchx gallery, Christine Munch, shared her perception of my work with the following words:

“To me, the paintings immediately give the impression of a calligraphic letter, but Eva’s letters are big – like getting close to the big signs on top of urban buildings. Or like standing high up, looking down at an abstract landscape. In her pictures hangs a red dot. Of course, I'm drawn to this one. A dot to trigger curiosity and give the gaze a direction or the opportunity to see the whole drawing from a new perspective?”