Ylva Carlgren
Ylva Carlgren (b. 1984, Luleå, SE) is known for her elegantly minimalist watercolor paintings created with skillful control by many fine layers of applied pigment. Carlgren is drawn to the in-between, the grandness of ambiguity where something can be nothing and everything all at once. The oftentimes monochrome gradients are applied to bring back or forth light, creating delicate shifts that suggest figure but rarely do.
Initially the artist explored a more photorealist style, one that quickly gave way to abstraction once realizing that the resulting attention payed to the painting’s motive was not to her interest. Carlgren’s paintings are abstract to the point of recognition and so undeniably flawless that they are oftentimes mistaken as photographs or prints.
Characteristic of her practice is a greatly informed interest in material and technique. The techniques, tools and sensibilities which have become central to Carlgren’s practice are in part influenced by study and travels in chiefly Japan.