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Alexandra Karpilovski’s new exhibition invites the visitor to stop, to think, to laugh, and to feel
”I hope my approach gives a certain openness to remember to connect to their memories and their future,” the artist tells.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
19 Jan 2022

Born in Kiev, Karpilovski came to Sweden with her parents and sister in 1991 and after some time in different refugee camps around the country, they ended up in Stockholm. In 2010, she moved to Amsterdam for studies at Gerrit Rietveld Academie. 

— This is where my interest for poetry grew, but also the state of confusion and towards the end the definite that art was my path, she tells, continuing,

— Throughout my time as an active artist, I have always been basically on my own. Never had a gallery that pushed me forward or a cultural heritage to take me forward with, I have had to pave my own path which has meant that my path has had the chance to spread in all directions. Art for me is so many emotions at once — it is about melancholy, lightness, compassion, multifaceted, grandiose, slow, and fast all at once and encapsulates life. My practice includes sound, text, paintings, performances, installations, and working with the atmosphere in a room to invite people in. I mix it together to create a setting for people to experience and to connect to their emotions, at times with a humorous approach and sometimes serious, all in a mixture.

Karpilovski’s previous commissioned work includes doing set design for By Malene Birger’s show during Copenhagen Fashion week in 2020. She worked together with creative agency Moon International, creating large-scale paintings hovering from the ceiling. She’s also created album covers for Stockholm producer Bella Boo and patterns for stockings for Swedish Stockings and will soon launch a carpet collection in collaboration with Dusty Deco. Until the end of the month, her exhibition We met at a square and created a circle is on display at Misschiefs in Stockholm.

— It’s almost like a small retrospective but with works made mostly in the last year. Each work is like a small window to look into people’s souls, their wishes, and their dreams. There is a square to gather at, and a monumental-like sculpture with personal clues to my heritage, paintings, and drawings all around, from more detailed colour explosions to illustrative line drawings painted with ink. It is a mixture of different styles and expressions living their own life. I hope my approach with this exhibition gives a certain openness to the visitor, to stop, to think, to laugh, to feel, and to remember to connect to their memories and their future. I like to work with found materials, I love to do large-scale paintings and small scribbles, I write poetry and I dance. When it comes to performances they are usually improvised, Karpilovski concludes.