Erik Thörnqvist

Through sculpture and installation, Erik Thörnqvist (born 1994) explores how ideas take material form. Drawing on both historical and fictional narratives, his work investigates the space between fact and fiction, certainty and ambiguity. Rather than presenting fixed meanings, his sculptures invite multiple interpretations and encourage viewers to question established assumptions.

A recurring theme in Thörnqvist’s practice is the relationship between form, function, and identity. By transforming familiar objects, he gives them new symbolic meanings that extend beyond their original purpose. His work is particularly interested in ornamentation and its role within modernist design traditions, examining how aesthetic forms can create space for alternative readings and expressions of identity.

The jury for the 2024 Maria Bonnier Dahlin Foundation Grant consisted of Jacob Dahlgren and Fredrik Liew.

Jury motivation

“In Erik Thörnqvist’s work, surfaces bend and shift, both literally and metaphorically. Furniture designed to support the human body appears to stand up and walk, revealing how the absurd can emerge from the rational.

With particular sensitivity to detail, Thörnqvist combines refined material and formal compositions with conceptual precision. The result is an artistic practice that challenges assumptions about functionality, normativity, and the body, while remaining open to multiple interpretations.”

Erik Thörnqvist (born 1994 in Umeå, Sweden) lives and works in Stockholm. His sculptures and installations explore how material forms shape perception and meaning, often focusing on moments where established narratives begin to shift or break down.

He has previously exhibited at the Luleå Biennial Time on Earth (2020), SOMA in Mexico City, Lunds Konsthall, Final Hot Desert in Salt Lake City, KIN Museum of Contemporary Art in Kiruna, Konstnärshuset, and Luleå Konsthall.