Tore Svensson has explored the expression of iron through his many years of artistic work, through small, tiny shifts in the shape and surface of the material. A large series of his unique brooches now take place in the exhibition Iakttagelser. Each brooch contains a specific portrait but never gives us the exact image of the person depicted. Through etching, gilding and painting, variations in the surfaces of the brooches emerge. Silhouettes emerge, but the lack of detail gives a sense of absence while activating the viewer to try to fill in what we do not see. 

Carrying memories is one of the most central functions of jewellery. We give and receive jewellery as gifts, allowing it to be central to rituals and passed down from generation to generation. Jewellery travels through time and space.

Inspired by a black and white photograph from the late 19th century in an oval frame typical of the period, Tore Svensson began more than ten years ago to portray the people around him in these portable portraits. Friends, family, fellow artists, collectors and gallery owners have been portrayed. In the exhibition we see a selection of brooches that together become a portrait gallery of an international network of people with jewellery as their common interest.

Tore Svensson was born in 1948 and works in Gothenburg and Berlin.

Title: Portrait

Material: iron, gilding, paint

Technique: etching, linseed oil firing

Title: Portrait
Material: iron, gilding, paint
Technique: etching, linseed oil firing