Interview
Nicolas Alsterdal
Nicolas started his self-made painting journey in 2020.
He uses mixed media and is inspired by differences. His carrier within revenue management and pricing has most certainly contributed to his fascination for details, systems and geometries. Even though, it might come through his paintings, the true motivation to his art carrier is the end of his passion for theatre. Art in general and painting in particular took over his passion where words came to an end. He paints with different acrylic techniques in several layers following his internal process without any clear goal. Usually, he starts with an idea in mind, but it will quickly turn into something totally different from the original idea. The more he changes direction, the more he trusts his process as he knows it gets him closer to the inside.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I was born in France. I moved to Sweden 25 years ago, where I live today. I started my journey in the art world in 2020, as the beginning of a new era. Before my art journey, I was on a theatre journey but I left the theater company behind in France and in Sweden. I have been working so many years with my words and body, both on and behind the stage and after a difficult and emotional period of my life in 2020, I didn't find the words anymore. I started to paint as an escape from my pain but the painting was here to stay. I discovered a whole new world of expression and enjoyed more and more the exchange between artist and audience. The starting point is often not only the performance itself but in most cases what the performance does to people or how it serves people. Painting is a way of getting closer to myself and through that doing an impact on people and being a better human being.”
What inspires you?
“The human behaviour and its processes have always inspired me. It is definitely my primary source of inspiration. I am fascinated by the complexity of our capacities but most of all by these internal conflicts we all experience on daily basis. Our behaviours are everything else but straight forward and I like to try to figure out what makes us do the things we do. Most of my art often starts from a reflection on the human behaviour and if it doesn't, it will get to it during the process.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“As mentioned previously, most of my art is a reflection on human behaviour. Our behaviours are the result of two strong natural laws: the perpetual movement and the laws of evolution. Reflecting on what historical heritage we are hiding behind our behaviours and trying to see the changes that we are operating when behaving, is a real treasure to me. My art is some kind of result of those reflections. As an example, my collection "pieces" is a reflection on the different layers a human is built of and how we choose how to combine our pieces of heritage together with more recent pieces that we acquire along the way. The theme of my latest collection, "Escape" is a reflection on the human escape instinct and how we are made of a multitude of escape trials.”
“I am fascinated by the complexity of our capacities but most of all by these internal conflicts we all experience on daily basis.”
How would you describe your work?
“My artwork is an expression of my inside, not understanding my inside as my ego, but meaning my layers of heritage, patterns and influences my inside result from. It is a journey taking me closer to myself but most of all closer to something much bigger than me that keeps me close to other humans. The most important factor in my work is not the result but the process, as it is through that process that I learn both about art but also about myself and the humankind. So to be clear, I would describe my artwork as a trial to answer questions about human behaviours.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I would like to say all as long as their work is doing something to me. I could definitely say that Mondrian is an artist that has influenced me a lot because his work is talking to my systematic mind but I should also mention both impressionism and surrealism masters for pushing the boundaries and exploring new limits. Most of the artists testing the limits and adding something new and different will definitely get my attention. As an example, a Swedish contemporary artist who impresses me is Lars Lerin who took the expression of aquarelle technique to a new level.”
What is your creative process like?
“Chaotic, I would say. I usually start in my head several months before I put it down to the canvas by visualizing a technique or something that I came across and imagine as a painting tool. I will elaborate new visualizations based on the previous ones until I can't keep it in my head anymore and need to try it. At that time, when starting to put down my vision on the canvas, it is almost systematically a battle with my frustration as I realize that my visions do not work the way I imagine it. And this is where the beauty starts. When I am fighting against myself and pushing my own boundaries to get somewhere. I usually do not know where I am going with a painting and I give it the time to come to me, layers after layers. What I like the most in my process is when I recognize that I am on the right track but still can't point out where I am going. This is when I understand that the process is bigger than me and I let everything influence the direction as I trust I will get to a result that I can stand for.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“In general, an artist’s role in society is to make sure the society keeps active at all time. It could be through mirroring the society, pushing its boundaries, challenging it or criticizing it. An image coming to my mind, is that artists are the bodyguards of the society. In that sense, the multitude of artists is important in a society as some will reflect the beauty of it, others will mirror the political aspects of it, challenge the status quo or simply start a conversation about the society. A society without artists would be a dead society.”
