TOR CEDERMAN – the versatile artist who pushes boundaries and celebrates gaud, diligent hands and an often forgotten history of women.
Tor Cederman is a freelance scenographer, designer and artist since 1989. He was born and raised in Karlstad but has lived in Stockholm for many years.
Tor’s artistic profession spans over several levels; a mix of visual arts, sculpture, arts and crafts, thematic exhibitions and scenographies and more. Versatility has become his hallmark. As an artist, he finds himself in the borderland between art and craft, where the visual language is brought forward by the very choice of material and technique.
The list of commissions and exhibitions that Tor has added to his CV is impressive. In recent years, he has worked with exhibitions at, among others, Livrustkammaren (The Museum of the Swedish Royal HIstory), the Royal Opera and the City Museum in Stockholm.
A personal art project that Tor passionately pushes forward is called Hemtamt (close to home, or familiar) and is based on his grandmother’s upbringing in eastern Värmland at the beginning of the last century. HIs grandmother’s craftsmanship was, like for many other women, initially forced by necessity but over time became an identity. ”Her world exists in me and has shaped large parts of me and my artistry,” Tor says. The material of the textile heritage consists of crocheted cloths and textiles from Tor’s grandmother and from other women who have worked with their hands all their lives. Nostalgia is a strong driving force in Tor’s artistic creation, but also a paradox, Tor explains; ”I don’t want to get stuck in old memories and become sentimental. I want to cherish my memories and at the same time bury them, in order to move forward!”
In Tor’s hands, creative sculptures are given women’s names and he transforms the reality of the time into installations of rarely seen entities with radiant opulence. With layer upon layer of patience, he transforms forgotten pieces of fabric into tapestries never seen before, celebrating an often forgotten history of women.
In Gamla Kraftstationen, during this autumn, you can see selected parts of the art project Hemtamt. The Christmas tree ”Crocheted winter dreams” was exhibited in Berlin in 2015 and is now being shown for the first time in Sweden. Experience Tor’s beautiful tribute to all hard working women in history through the exhibition which can almost be described as a folk opus.
Exhibitions start September 30
