Katrin Westman Breath
Stockholm, 25.2–10.4 2021
Galleri Andersson/Sandström is pleased to present its third solo exhibition with Swedish artist Katrin Westman.
“Katrin Westman wants to attract us close to her paintings, lure us in and out of them, make us constantly make new discoveries and set us in motion.” – Mikael Hagner, Barometern
Westman’s work moves between sculpture and painting in a play with the image and the materiality of colour. The painting takes shape against the flat surface of the floor and is processed in thin layers of oil that meets swollen parts. The paint is scraped, erased and brushed on until the drawing hand defines the shapes.
Gradually, the feeling of a form and the form of a feeling appear. An attempt to give life to, embrace and make the work stand on its own two feet. The constant presence of the Baroque era in Westman’s painting is evident in the rich colour of the palette and in the drama, decadence and dynamics of the paintings. From self-composed still lifes of decayed flowers, photographs models of crowds on beaches or sculptures, images arise that form the starting point for Westman’s work on the canvas. A process that exists for the artist beyond the framework of the intellect, which is about liberation and about daring to be changeable in the encounter with the foreign.
In Breath, Westman shows the sculptural potential of painting and the desire to let the viewer meet the works from different positions in the room. The waves form a spatial installation of curved paintings in MDF that lie against the floor together with drops in concrete. In Stay Close, the canvas tries to cling to a steel stand. The painting only gives suggestions but omits the answers.
Katrin Westman was born in 1987 in Örebro. She graduated from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts in 2015 and currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Westman’s works are found in collections such as Bonniers Konstförening, SAK (Sveriges Allmänna Konstförening) and Kristenhamn Art Museum.
In 2016 she received Vera and Göran Agnekil’s scholarship and a 1-year scholarship from the Konstnärsnämnden (The Swedish Art Council). In 2015 she was awarded scholarships from Anna-Lisa Thomson Foundation, Eva and Hugo Bergman Memorial Fund and in 2014 she received the Kristenhamn Art Museum’s scholarship for young artists, as the youngest recipient ever.
Works in the exhibition:
Katrin Westman – Sleeper
2020, 160 x 193 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8503
Katrin Westman – Spectator
2020, 158 x 182 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8495
Katrin Westman – Secret Surroundings III
2020, 37 x 39 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8482
Katrin Westman – Secret Surroundings II
2020, 37 x 37 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8481
Katrin Westman – Secret Surroundings V
2020, 36 x 36 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8484
Katrin Westman – Secret Surroundings IV
2020, 37 x 35 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8483
Katrin Westman – Secret Surroundings I
2020, 36 x 36 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8480
Katrin Westman – Mirroring
2020, 117 x 115 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8498
Katrin Westman – Orchids
2020, 31 x 31 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8499
Katrin Westman – Queen
2020, 73 x 70 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8500
Katrin Westman – Rabbit Hole
2019, 139 x 145 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8204
Katrin Westman – Roaming
2020, 158 x 182 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8501
Katrin Westman – Running in Water
2020, 74 x 65 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8502
Katrin Westman – Madonna and Child
2020, 45 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8497
Katrin Westman – Hazy Conversation
2020, 45 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, GAS#8496
Katrin Westman – Silent Waves V
2020, 245 x 122cm, oil on MDF, GAS#8489
Katrin Westman – Silent Waves IV
2020, 245 x 122cm, oil on MDF, GAS#8488
Katrin Westman – Silent Waves III
2020, 245 x 122cm, oil on MDF, GAS#8487
Katrin Westman – Silent Waves II
2020, 245 x 122cm, oil on MDF, GAS#8486
Katrin Westman – Silent Waves I
2020, 245 x 122cm, oil on MDF, GAS#8485