Sara Möller’s third solo exhibition at Galleri Thomassen explores the concept of emptiness through a monologue, which could be seen as a possible manifesto or metaphor for the unruly emergence of the artistic process. It takes the viewer on a journey through a dream-like landscape, where disobedient wills rule and unresolved connections are made possible.

This landscape is one of beauty and flaws, of those who rise and shine, and those who fall. Shadows that surround or gently embrace, rivulets of light that boldly thunder forth. It is a place of indeterminate seeking dialogue.

Möller’s creation adorns itself in various costumes, but the essence is found in the contemplation of desire and powerlessness. The results are essentially only by-products, abstract effects, or still images of a dancing play.

The exhibition “Tomrum och olydiga viljor” [ eng: Void and Unruly Wills]  showcases Möller’s layered glazed ceramic sculptures and smaller watercolor paintings. The paintings, which were the starting point for this exhibition, were created during her stay in Paris in 2022.

Möller’s visual language is versatile and can speak through sculpture, installation or painting on paper. Ceramic clay is the material that holds the deepest significance for Sara, and it is evident in her work. The soft mass that has hardened, a shell or a surface, holds a vibration in stillness or a stalled rhythm. Ceramic objects can suddenly transform upon encountering a kitchen utensil or other objects, becoming something completely different. Möller uses ropes, textile, and jesmonite as helping hands to construct new units or compositions of several. Body, landscape, and culture mixed into tactile experiments.

Sara Möller (born 1982 in Växjö) currently resides in Gothenburg. She holds a master’s degree in ceramic art from HDK-Valand in Gothenburg, which she obtained in 2009. Möller has held several solo exhibitions, including recent ones at Berg Gallery, Norrtälje Konsthall, and Vandalorum. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, including the Artist Grant from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee for ten years (2022) and the prestigious Beckers Art Grant (2013). Throughout her career, Möller has had the opportunity to participate in several extended residencies, such as a two-month stay at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2022). During the pandemic year (2020-2021), she was in Berlin on a working residency through The Wöhr/Reinheimer Stiftung für bildende Kunst. Her work is part of several public collections, including the Swedish Public Art Agency, Stockholm Municipality, Vetlanda Museum, and Höganäs Museum.

 

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Sara Möllers tredje soloutställning på Galleri Thomassen tar sin utgångspunkt i tomrummets monolog. Ett möjligt manifest eller en metafor för konstprocessens bångstyriga tillblivelse. En vandring in i den vakna drömmen där de olydiga viljorna härskar och olösta bindningar möjliggörs.

Det sköna och de skavda. De som stormar och faller. De som reser sig och skimrar. Skuggor som omringar eller mjukt omhuldar, rännilar av ljus som våghalsigt dundrar fram. Det obestämbara som söker dialog. Denna drömlika lek iklär sig skilda kostymer men essensen återfinns i en begrundan av lust och vanmakt. Resultaten är egentligen bara restprodukter, abstrakta affekter eller stillbilder av en dansant lek.

I utställningen ”Tomrum och olydiga viljor” bjuds vi in till ett landskap av lager på lager glaserade keramiska skulpturer och mindre akvarellmålningar. Målningarna som också varstartpunkten för denna utställning tog sin början några heta sommarmånader under en arbetsvistelse i Paris, 2022. Möllers bildspråk kan tala genom en skulptur, en platsspecifik installation eller som målning på papper. Det är ingen hemlighet att det viktigaste materialet med den djupaste vikten för Sara är den keramisk leran. Mjuk massa som hårdnat, ett skal, en yta av det innan så mjukt formbara. Vibration i stillhet eller pausad rytm. Men keramiska föremål kan i ett ögonblick av suddig klarhet plötsligt förvandlas under en träff med till exempel ett köksredskap, kanske alla tillsammans muteras till något helt annat. Rep, kedjor, textila bandage och papier-maché kan bli hjälpande händer i en konstruktion av nya enheter eller anhopningar av flera. Kropp, landskap och kultur
mixas till taktila experiment.