Michael Kvium
by Marianne Gross
Even though the public might not consider him a watercolour artist, Michael Kvium has had a couple of solo exhibitions only showing watercolour works – one was held at the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Sweden. Some of the artists that have been an inspiration to him were the Spanish painters Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) and Francisco Goya (1746–1828). Zurbarán was known for depicting the horrendous torments of the Catholic martyrs in a very realistic manner; and between painting portraits for the Spanish royalty Goya at some points was a revolutionary outcast. Michael Kvium is most famous for depicting people who make us turn inwards – in surprise and even disgust. Most of his characters are not individual persons, but form a fusion of human traits, age. His aim is to show us the hidden imperfections, things that are out of balance or which vary from the so-called normality. Often the faces of the figures will be distorted or they might be partly stripped to the skeleton. The idea is important but he always tries to find the best way of presenting it in ways of material, colour, and composition. The existential loneliness of humans is of particular interest to him, and Michael Kvium always tries to ask himself (and us) why we close our eyes to the uncomfortable or ugly sides of life. He does so with great skill, earnesty – and humour as well.

Malin Ståhl
by Anna Sörenson Rydh
In her current exhibition at Kuben (Mittuniversitet Campus Östersund) Malin Ståhl takes up Sweden´s historiography, the roll of art in the public conversation, and the place of the Sami community in history. The project of this exhibition started out in 2018 in connection with an art residency in a villa in the mountainous Jämtland region. Around 100 years ago the area experienced a boom in tourism, primarily people from Stockholm who aquired land for holidays and hunting. The region had untill then been used by the Sami people for ages, but surprisingly no mention of this was to be found in the historiography. Malin Ståhl teamed up with a group of people to investigate the presence of the Sami people. Among the reasearchers weas the archeologist Ewa Ljungdal who was able to determine Sami traces in the area. The Sami way of life does not leave many marks on the environment, and Malin Ståhl found it important as an artist to take responsibilty for the historiography even though she is not of Sami descent. She painted images of the residency villa as well as the Sami traces in the landscape making use of different perspective views as well as different colours. The titles of the works derive from the GPS coordinates of their finds in the area.

Nick Alm
by Maria Molin
When painting figuratively Nick Alm aims to approach reality – the external as well as the internal. He grew up in the small Swedish town of Hult and knew quite early that he wanted to become an artist. He also studied music but had no desire for the stage so he switched to art. He was captivated by the painters of the 19th century and their visual interpretation of rhythm, texture, light, and ambiance. He trained classical painting at the Florence Academy of Art, first at the Swedish branch, later in Florence. Among his influences he mentions Anders Zorn, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, as well as Odd Nerdrum, for whom he had the opportunity of being a trainee for some months. Since 2016 Nick Alm has exhibited widely in Sweden as well as abroad and he has also begun to teach. People have always been his main subject matter whether as commissions or free art. Even when painting figuratively, the composition is basically abstract ideas – where he experiments with forms, composition, hues and contrasts, painting figuratively on top of an abstract background so to speek. When painting with watercolour he appreciates the characteristics and the textures of the medium, the unability to control the process, and the possibility of quickly obtaining unique atmospheric colour patches.

Tomas Nordberg (memorial)
by Jacqueline Stare
After being an artist for 45 years, Tomas Nordberg passed away in August 2024. One of his trademarks was the use of small pieces of watercolour works to build larger sculptures. These small paper pieces of various sizes (torn up to resemble brush strokes) would be held together with piano wire and allowed to float in the draft. The watercolouring gave life to the works and tearing up these pieces became almost like meditation for him, since he always listened to music while working. Tomas Nordberg admired Anders Zorn (1860–1920) and he was also interested in Japanese garden art and visual art. Depending on the type of project he would shift between various materials, techniques, and expressions. He mastered them with great dedication and was working right up untill the last week of his life when the illness took all his strength.

Arne Fredriksson (memorial)
by Jacqueline Stare
Even though he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2004, Arne Frederiksson never let his illness control his life and he managed to keep painting right till the end. After having completed his education as a decorator he got to know Arne Isacsson who ran the Gerlesborg Art School. He attended the school in 1968-1970 and later even became a teacher there for many years. During the years Arne Frederiksson became an important and inspiring teacher at various art schools. A representation of his own works can be found in the National Museum and other public spaces. In 2023 he was awarded Axel Theofren Sandbergs Watercolour Prize by the Art Academy with the following motivation: Arne Frederiksson’s watercolour and oil works evokes light. He builds his composition by setting up richly modulated bloks of colour against each other often using muted tones as a contrast to glowing light in a very beautiful way