Ingemar Härdelin — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Sep 25

Sep 25 Ingemar Härdelin

Biography

I was born in 1932 in a rectory, located in the large forest areas in central Sweden as the last born of five siblings. My parents loved culture in various forms, and both father and mother were artistically gifted.

Artist Statement

As a child I loved to paint colorful pictures with motifs of both people and nature with my crayons. The choice of profession, however, became a teacher. My artistic creation then occurred for many years only sporadically and periodically, but took off when I retired. It was the oil that attracted me the most, but pretty soon I switched to acrylic. The drying time for the oil was far too long for my patience.
The first exhibition then came rather soon. I had made contact with a group of painters, who sometimes made trips to interesting places. But I pretty soon abandoned landscape painting and group painting and at the same time distanced myself more and more from representational painting. I felt ufree and inhibited with a given motive in front of my eyes, I needed total freedom from role models. This was not easy. Now I had only my imagination and creative imagination to rely on. I started creating abstract paintings completely from within myself, usually with strong colors and expressions. It gave me the sense of freedom I craved. I often painted to music, which could act as a catalyst and release my creativity.
My exhibitions became more and more frequent. Today I have had more than forty exhibitions in Sweden and also some abroad.
But as an artist you can never settle down. Painting is a constant journey forward where along the way you pick new fruits and reject others. The hike is like an adventure with new unexpected discoveries.