MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

My public art installation at the Children and Youth Ward at Helsingborg´s hospital, is inspired by power/totem animals, avatars and magical nature. Power animal is a concept that originates from shamanism and indigenous people in many cultures around the world, and is based on the belief that everything has a soul and that everything is connected. A Power animal is a soul with the combined personality of a certain animal with its strengths, weaknesses and wisdom, which we can come into contact with and get help from during our lives. In a hospital, an own Power Animal or Avatar may be needed both for children, parents and staff. I want the artworks to meet children and adults on their own level, to give comfort and strength and entice to enter the magical room of the imagination. I use a figurative narrative imagery and colour field painting along with patterns which in different ways refer to nature. By zooming in and out of images and working with both enlarged details and entire image worlds it gives the installation as a whole a dynamic and rhythmic effect. Colours, shapes and patterns help orient oneself around the ward and lead to inviting visual surprises. My ambition with the art in the children's ward is to create a visual whole that is timeless, independent of technological development and that retains its originality power and modernity through the passage of time. My hope is that art can open up new fantasies and dreams of both children and adults and have a comforting and soothing effect on people- small and adult ones, and be enveloped by the healing power of the fairy tale.

Location: New children and youth ward, Helsingborg's hospital, Helsingborg, Sweden
Client: Region Skåne
Material: Installation of digitally printed shaped laminated glass, digitally printed laminated glass walls, vinyl fabric, vinyl wallpaper, laminate, painted walls, posters and printed face masks. 18 ward rooms, corridors, receptions, walls and ceilings. 
‍Photo: Brendan Austin