Perhaps we find ourselves immersed within the membranes of the body, or far out in space among nebulae and stellar reefs. A world of umbilical cord spheres and solitary luminous shells. /Sara Stridsberg
In the exhibition Celestial Bodies, Diana Orving’s textile sculptures fill the Artist’s Home of Millesgården, where they come into contact with Carl Milles’s world of mythology and astronomy. In the Large Studio – where Milles’s figures seek to hover between heaven and earth – a dialogue opens up between different materials and expressions, between past and present. Just as Milles created works that reach for the sky, Orving’s sculptures occupy the room with a buoyancy that seems to defy gravity. Orving sews textile layers of silk, linen and abaca– a fibre from a banana plant – into organic shapes that evoke clouds, wind and plants in motion – or birds in flight. The title Celestial Bodies refers to Milles’s lifelong fascination with winged creatures in myth and nature, and to the idea of art that strives upwards, toward the sky and heavens. Here, two artistic practices meet in the cosmic and the human – celestial bodies in transformation and metamorphosis, serving both as stars and as symbols of humanity’s desire to transcend boundaries.
&Milles is a new exhibition series that places the total work of art Millesgården – bequeathed to the Swedish people in 1936 – in active dialogue with the present. Contemporary artists are invited to create site-specific installations in relation to the unique environment, where the Artist’s Home and the surrounding sculpture park can also serve as sources of inspiration. Millesgården’s ambition and intention is to remain a place for artistic exploration and innovation.
Read more about &Milles and the exhibition here.