In Martin Ålund’s exhibition ”Afterimage” there is a figurative world of images that relates to works from earlier periods, before he began to explore a more organic, experimental and process-oriented imagery. Then, as now, there is a narrative that connects to places and figures in an existential state. A purple shimmer often permeates the paintings and fills them with a light that is reminiscent of a dreamy dusk or dawn, sometimes an ignited night sky.Within this light, there is often a human being, depicted in an environment which relates to the artist’s own travels and life. The artist describes how he uses photographs as an introduction or a visual surface to build on, but how he also easily moves on into a poetic and intuitive creative process.Through layers of drawing and painting, the images emerge. The title “Afterimage” alludes to this very process, how time burits up layers into the images, but also to notions of reflection, dreams and memories. Moments from youth reappear and prove to be significant and are finally completed into a painting.
Martin Ålund was born in 1967 in Skellefteå, lives and works in Stockholm. He is educated at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and has since exhibited in Sweden and internationally. He has received numerous scholarships, including the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Scholarship. His works are represented in museums, institutions, public and private collections.