Fågelkvitter

Sara Nilsson's sculptures and paintings explore a reflective and quiet relationship with the natural world.

Fågelkvitter (Bird-twitter) was previously part of the exhibition Notes Toward a Life in Nature at Eva Livijn Art Space (curated by Ulrika Flinck). There, Nilsson's figures—youthful, contemplative, and often reading or at rest— were found on the threshold of settling, not to dominate nature but to co-exist. The works evoke a gentle resistance to contemporary life’s speed and disconnection, offering instead a vision of care, stillness, and attunement. Nilsson’s sculptures, formed from paper pulp, then sanded and painted by hand, come alive with her own distinctive and strong aesthetic language.

Nilsson’s practice is deeply inspired by the countercultures of the 1960s and '70s as well as her rural surroundings in Värmland. Her work speaks to a growing desire for ways of living that are less extractive, more reciprocal, and deeply rooted. Notes Toward a Life in Nature suggests a path still unfolding—a sketch of a way of life where nature is not an escape, but a space for listening, repair, and possibility. In this world, attentiveness itself becomes a quiet, radical act.

Sara Nilsson (b. 1978) lives and works in Olsäter, Värmland. Educated at Konstfack, she earned her Master's degree in Fine Art in 2007. In recent years, Nilsson has had several solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Sara Nilsson was recently invited to exhibit at the Swedish Pavilion at the 2024 Gwangju Biennale, South Korea. She has also created several public artworks across Sweden. 

Fågelkvitter
Sara Nilsson, 2023
Mixed media/blandteknik
43 x 29 x 29 cm

Fågelkvitter by Sara Nilsson was generously donated to SSE by Elisabeth Brandberg and Mimmi Brandberg.