About
The artist was born in Stockholm, Sweden but her heritage is Finnish. With parents that were immigrants the heart and interest in social issues led her to combine Art Science studies at Stockholm University with Art Therapy studies in St Albans, England.
She also worked within this field for a long time until she was in her 40’s. Then Carina saddled up and invested wholeheartedly in her artistry and has done so since.
Carina Söderström has been awarded with The Tellervo Tikkanen’s scholarship for the Swedish-Finnish artist of the year 2017.
Her work can be found as well in schools, preschools and homes for the elderly, Sundbyberg town hall and other public institutions as in private homes.
The artist has been shown in single and group exhibitions in Sweden and in a number of other countries.
In Sweden: Stockholm, Sundbyberg, Nyköping, Eskilstuna, Visby and Sigtuna.
Abroad in: Helsinki, Milano, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, London, Basel and Chile (online) to mention some.
Gallery representation by Galleri Lorentzon, Stockholm, Sweden, Van Gogh Art Gallery in Madrid, Spain
and Novum Investment, Basel, Switzerland, Tapiial Virtual, Chile and artworks.se
Secrets
Inspiration
My own experiences as a woman (in relation to others, to family and to society) are the source I get ideas and inspiration from mostly. Nature in all it's forms is a source to my artistry, such as the movement of water and the feeling of how the sky meets the sea and the complete balance between perfect forms and lively lines. However, the most fundamental thing in my practice is that I try to reach the soul of what I render, in the color itself and behind the surface. I am captivated by the warm and cold shifts of colors in relation to each other and can immerse myself deeply in the infinite variety and changeability that all living things carry. The big existential questions always speak to me. What it means to be human, the essence of being.
What I have been working on for some time now is a continuation of what has just been mentioned. To reach deeper into what cannot really be understood on an intellectual level but rather intuitively, perhaps back to the fundaments. A child's total vulnerability, loneliness and the dimensions of death that possibly exist in the midst of the living are themes now. A strong female force I think I sense in the movement of nature between a first seed or drop to courageously increase in size and then wither or dissolve. The feeling is that in my own body there is the universal and I use that when I paint. It becomes large canvases where I ¨connect¨to the canvas and somehow transfer myself to the painting.
Art science and Art therapy for children, Stockholm University, 1983-85
Art and Art therapy, St Albans College of Art and Design, England, 1985-86
Graphic design, Forsberg's, Sweden, 1998-99
Fashion, Beckmans School of Art & Design, Sweden, 2000-2001
A big range of studies in coaching, pedagogics and psychotherapy during the years.
KLIMAWANDEL & KUNST IV, 22-24 Nov 2024 in Basel Art Center, Basel, Switzerland
Tapiial Virtual's Artist circle, 2025, Santiago, Chile, more info will come.
Working towards an exhibition with the theme Crevice.
Oil, pigments, charcoal, pastels on linen canvas and on paper. Written word. Graphic techniques.
I search to discover and unveil the soul of what I depict. Most of my pictures are direct answers to an instant glimpse of anything my eye catches, such as withering plants, a bird, a rock, old trees or water. Many times just straight out of my own life experiences. It doesn't really matter if the result is naturalistic or abstract as long as it speaks honestly with me. In order to explore human nature there have been quite a big number of self portraits, in which I strive to be non-beautifying.
Sketching is pleasant for me and often these later on become paintings. My canvases are always big, not so much under 60x90 cm to 300x200 cm. In an intense flow while practising I connect deeply to the painting. Most of the time I start with oil without drawing lines before and then I follow and trust the process.
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