Just Passing Time Painting

The screen and the digital realm are reoccurring themes in Hjelm’s artworks. The multiplicity of the same image relates to his commentary on mass media production and the advertisements to which we are repeatedly exposed. The flatness of the image contradicts the intimacy of the creation process, which becomes an analogy of product display and self- representation on social media. The screen exists as a window to the external, that society has become increasingly dependent on. This digital environment has liberated us from our confinements whilst simultaneously causing an increasing disconnection from the intimate; the canvas is inflated to a point as Hjelm suggests to break through the proverbial screen to reach the receiver.