Ingela Ihrman - Harvest Moon

Through monumental sculptures, the artist Ingela Ihrman evokes empathy for all living things. Step into a grand world where care and humor meet tactile magic and existential depth.

Sometimes you encounter art that wants to be close. Ingela Ihrman (b. 1985) is one of our time's most influential Swedish artists, known for her unique ability to make nature's silent processes palpable. Her artistry explores what it means to be alive and reminds us that we are made of the same matter as all other living beings.

In Ihrman's world, the boundaries between the human and the non-human blur. Through large-scale sculpture and performance, she invites us into a reality where the journey of a pine cone carries the same existential weight as our own feelings of loneliness, desire, and social belonging. It is a world that explores the most basic biological conditions – to be born, to eat, to grow, and to wither.

Ihrman is internationally recognized for her monumental, handmade costumes and sculptures – from a giant cow parsnip to a birthing otter. In the work Bjuvstegocefalen, she gives form to an extinct amphibian from Bjuv's coal mines. By literally crawling under the skin of these creatures, she incarnates nature and invites empathy with that which is different, prickly, or vulnerable.

Her work is characterized by a “strenuous playfulness” and a strong craftsmanship tradition. Using tactile everyday materials such as lake rush, reeds, recycled fabric, and papier-mâché, she carefully builds her beings. In the video work and sculpture The Fertile Crescent, she humorously carries around an oversized grain ear. The journey from the church room, across Halland’s late summer fields, and down to the sand dunes by the sea becomes a kind of assisted fertilization.

By uniting humor, tactile sensitivity, and existential depth, Ihrman's work connects humans and other life forms. Her art invites us to see existence from a new perspective – where vulnerability and stubborn vitality are at the center.

The exhibition runs from October 3 to January 10. 

Opening reception at 1:00 PM. - View the programme 

Free admission.

Organized by: Skellefteå Art Hall