Stina Persson grew up in Burträsk but left the town many years ago. She now lives in Tyresö and works from her studio in Hökarängen in Stockholm.
– But my parents and brother still live there and I visit them a few times a year, she says when Norran talks to her.
One of her works, an approximately 70 centimetre high bronze sculpture entitled "Love Couple on a Rock", was unveiled by Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel during a ceremony at Stockholm City Hall on Midsummer's Eve. As the title suggests, the slightly abstract sculpture depicts two bodies embracing in a kiss.
It was created especially for the site, at the staircase of the City Hall's banquet and wedding rooms - the Vault of the Hundred. There it will become part of the route taken by the thousands of couples who get married there every year.
– A lot of people get married in the Town Hall, so when I was asked to create a work, it was clear that it should be a sculpture about love, says Stina.
At first, she felt a little uncomfortable with the subject, but after consulting with fellow artist Martha Ossowska Persson, the desire to create turned into an urge.
– She told me to go 'all in' and it was very liberating.
– I started with a classical motif - there are several sculptures of lovers on a cliff - Auguste Rodin's "The Kiss", Carl Eldh's "Lovers on a Cliff", Theodor Lundberg's "The Wave and the Beach" and many others. I think that in their grandiose poses they are meant to represent the essence of love. You could say that I am more interested in understanding the essence of sculpture.
She works in negative form, that is, she models the cavity, the shape that appears in the clay when her hands are pressed into it. This method has its challenges.
– It means that I have to be completely present. I think about how I want the sculpture to look, but I can't rely on my eyes, only on what my fingers feel. I have to make many before I am satisfied, she says, laughing.
Stina Persson
Artist, born 1983, educated at Konstfack and Umeå Art Academy. In 2019 she became the first Erland Cullberg Fellow. She has also received the Marianne and Sigvard Bernadotte artist grant and an exhibition grant at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts.