鈥淚 have this urge to distort or glorify the mundane and unnoticeable,鈥 says Malm枚-based photographer Rickard Gr枚nkvist, whose colour-drenched images are shown here. 鈥淢ost of my photos are centred around an isolated subject: sceneries, places, living and dead objects.鈥 Plastic bags get caught in barbed wire, basketball hoops cast silhouettes, tree trunks glow in the darkness.
This body of work spans illustration and graphic design, with many pieces united by a signature colour scheme: something Gr枚nkvist sees as central to the creative process. 鈥淧ink and blue seems to be a recurring palette… I鈥檓 obsessed with this combination, and it鈥檚 something you can see in my illustrations as well. It most likely dates to my childhood in the 1980s, back when the graffiti scene was booming.鈥
But these shots aren鈥檛 only about bold aesthetics; Gr枚nkvist is keen to convey a sense of emotion, too. Each photograph encourages us to pause and consider our surroundings. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this fine line between joy and sentimentality,鈥 the artist notes. 鈥淚t usually comes across stronger once I pair images together. I create a narrative or antithesis between two objects that otherwise wouldn鈥檛 be paired.鈥
In this way, Gr枚nkvist treads the line between real and unreal, reality and hyperreality. Everyday places are elevated and abstracted, transformed into mysterious, cinematic locations. The resulting scenes are defined by the strange and unusual: a series of rocks encircling a lamppost; unexplained light illuminating a tree trunk; highly saturated gradients following the setting sun.
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
All images courtesy Rickard Gro虉nkvist.
