The Artist

Art by Tsign Tony Nilsson

Looking back it’s no wonder I finally wound up an artist. Since early years, a long series of events, choices and decisions paved way for my career as an artist. I’ve always had pen and paper no further than an arms length away. Whenever I found a moment I was sketching and I still do. In fact this is the very heart of my creating process. I sketch constantly, every day, filling countless of sketchbooks. This is my creative bank. From this account I make withdrawals for my projects.

For me sketching is improvisation. Whatever comes up and catches I then follow. Some I pursue and render more carefully, others I just leave there for the time being. That’s just the beauty of it, to just let creativity pour out on the paper. The process is about following instinct over logic. A process of experimentation and questions to align with self. Forms are directed by feelings being expressed.

To me form has always been superior to color. This may sound strange while browsing through my works, there’s a lot of color. But I also keep a tight bond with my b/w works. It’s my intention to have a dynamic b/w section on this website. Some of the b/w works serves as studies for colored projects, others remain in their original state.

Finally, unlike many other artists, I don’t want to be put in a certain category. I know that a lot of people feel comfortable with categorizing artists, writers, composers. Maybe I do so myself unconsciously sometime, but I really think this is limiting creativity. I want to be free pursuing my way. To honor how Paul Klee so intelligently expressed it, ”The mission of an artist is to bring forward and visualize what otherwise would have been kept in the darkness”  There is no contradiction between categorizing artists and this statement, it’s just not for me.