Ellen Ehk Åkesson

To the hiker, the forest is a path. For the naturalist, a wonderland. To a child, the unsettling setting of a fairly tale. For Ellen Ehk, it is a fact. “I grew up in a small village in the forests of southeast Sweden. I experienced the forest just as it is, nature rebuilding and destroying at the same time. I never put a value on that.” Ehk began her career throwing delicate vessels inspired by Asian forms, but in time, found herself working in a darker, heavier mode. “I realized that my idea of form and color came from a filtering of my time in the forest, things I encountered as child — the holes between two big moss covered boulders, thick roots digging deep below.” When a public art commission came her way, Ehk learned to work in bronze, creating large-scale pieces that suggest Art Nouveau gone wild, faux bois furniture fashioned for giants, and table top trees that perch on exposed roots. “I try to work intuitively with my materials. When we start to connect, I follow and let go. Clay will flow, metal will harden, sand will melt, and fire will put every thing to  a test.”

Portrait in artist´s studio, Pukeberg, Sweden, photo Markus Åkesson