Moa Israelsson: Solanum V

Using materials such as latex, nylon, papier-mâché, watercolor, and flax, visual artist Moa Israelsson has recreated a delicate potato plant. The sculpture is part of the SSE Permanent Collection and is displayed in the Graceland corridor on the fifth floor of Sveavägen 65.

Solanum V (2024) is one of five sculptures in the series Solanum I–V. Together with related works depicting dandelions, blades of grass, and other plant forms, the series has previously been presented under the collective title A Horizon.

In these works, nature is a central theme. The title A Horizon refers both to the visible horizon where sky and earth meet and to the uppermost layer of soil formed through the gradual decomposition of organic matter.

The sculptures are created through a combination of carefully executed techniques, and Israelsson regards the making process as an essential part of the artwork itself. Time, transformation, and decay are recurring themes throughout her practice. Materials and objects are often altered from something familiar and functional into studies of change, fragility, and impermanence.

As the artist has noted, the labor-intensive process can suggest both dedication and necessity, reflecting nature’s own cycles of growth and decay.

Moa Israelsson (born 1982 in Ljungby, Sweden) lives and works in Åkers Styckebruk. She graduated from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 2010 and has participated in solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries in Sweden and internationally.

Solanum V was donated by Lars Bane.