Self portrait #1 Painting

Lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. ”After years of a most unwelcome voyage into the realms of darkness, I am finally ready to make my way back to the world in general, and art world in particular. The experience of these years and the long road to recovery has made an immense impact on not only the style and expression of my art, but also the technique and materials I use. Even though I had a difficult time picking up my paintbrushes during this time; let alone completing a single painting to my liking; I was able to immerse myself into sketching, researching and art studies. I also had to scrutinise myself trying to understand my own intent in what I want to voice and convey through my art going forward. Today I can revisit that period of struggles and anxiety and draw from those experiences in creating my art. I see this series of work as a study or an exploration into mental health, where I initially chose my subjects based on observations or interviews touching upon difficulties or struggles but later grew into a consideration of a much broader spectrum of emotional states. I find it interesting how prominent events or periods in people’s lives; be it dark, light or in between; shape their perspective and help mould the way they view their surroundings, even the way they come to present themselves to the world. It is this facet of the human experience that I want to explore in this series by displaying my subjects consumed by specific emotional states, often linking directly to such periods in their lives. I begin by rendering my subjects in a more detailed way, after which I distort or destroy parts of the portrait and introduce abstract elements to further enhance the emotional impact of the work. Although the balance between the details and the abstract can vary greatly depending on what I feel is right in the moment and the painting in question, the series is ultimately linked by the same exploratory ambition.” The characteristics of Paula’s art is emotional and lively, combining both strong and detailed brush strokes using an expressive but at the same time balanced color palette. By using linseed oil, a solvent-free paint based on flax oil and mostly natural pigments, the art becomes not only friendly to health and environment, but the colors also stand out as vibrant and inviting.