One of the most common subjects in photography. And often the most banal. The exhibition Untitled Nature challenges this, and when 23 of Sweden's foremost artists exhibit, we encounter surprising, dramatic, and provocative relationships to nature.

The exhibition at Picture This Gallery is not about nature as a motif but as a projection surface or approach. Some photographers start from their own nature, others work against nature, for some, nature is a backdrop, and others use it as a statement.

One of the participating artists is Maria Friberg, who has long been one of Sweden's most respected artists in photography and video work. The overarching theme in Maria Friberg's art is gender issues and masculinity, but noticeably often her works take place in nature. She herself grew up in the forest, and her relationship with nature involves both symbolism and activism.

In Picture This summer exhibition Untitled Nature, four of her works from the series Mirroring Nature are displayed. These works reflect the concern she early felt over the emerging monoculture in Swedish forestry. In Mirroring Nature, the effects of this unnatural handling of the forest are visible. The images are close-ups of tree trunks, cropped like antique mirrors to contemplate oneself in.

“In traditional smaller forestry, for example, slash-and-burn was a natural part of the cycle. When small-scale was replaced by large-scale operations with planted trees in straight rows that were then clear-cut, large dangerous fires with catastrophic consequences instead arose. It is clear that in the forests we are getting further and further away from nature's ecosystems. That we do not realize they are part of what is required for our survival.”

“I easily get involved in various issues, but I have realized that my way of contributing to something greater is my works and the conversations that can arise around them, as well as trying to live as close to nature as possible to partake in its healing ability,” says Maria Friberg.

Maria Friberg, Mirroring Nature 12

A photographer who for many years has created in an exciting dance between the created and the natural is Ewa-Mari Johansson. With her ability to capture shapes and experiment with light, often inspired by the surrealists, she has on-site portrayed both Maasai women in Africa and supermodels backstage at haute couture shows.

“Nature, climate, and women are fundamental themes in my photography,” says Ewa-Mari Johansson.

Ewa-Mari Johansson, Tree of Life, The Tree

Tree oof Life Galjionsfigure

Nature as a source of inspiration is an approach that the exhibitors share with Swedes, who research shows have increasingly strong relationships with nature in a variety of ways. The country, which ranks highest in the upper right corner of the World Value Survey in terms of individuality and secularity, experiences nature as a source of both comfort, struggle, health, and ecological spirituality. Just as in Sweden right now, more questions are being asked than ever about what is defined as natural – or not. Questions that several of the participating artists highlight with their works, whether it is with attitude, body, or magical vegetation.

“Nature is part of my body and therefore something I naturally have curiosity for in my art. I do not see myself as separated from the planet I was created on. When I look at nature, I see our entire existential history,” says Trinidad Carillo, who stands with one foot in Swedish culture and one in her native Peru.

I do not see myself as separated from the planet I was created on.

— Trinidad Carillo

Trinidad Carillo, Froud Lee Bauer 2019

Approaching oneself and one's inner states by being reflected through nature's prisms has also given Anna Clarén a natural place as much in the art world as out in the green, blue, black, and misty white.

“I am interested in when nature becomes a kind of resonance box for the inner human, when nature can embrace and reflect a state of mind. Often, the camera works like a channel where I can formulate things I have difficulty understanding myself. It can be knots or thresholds in life that I cannot get over. Sometimes my photography helps me approach fears or doubts. In this way, both nature and photography become like a comforting sphere, a place where everything human can exist,” says Anna Clarén.

I am interested in when nature becomes a kind of resonance box for the inner human, when nature can embrace and reflect a state of mind.

— Anna Clarén

The fact that nature plays such a strong and shifting role in people's lives is significant for Swedes. We wander and we seek. A place where life's mysteries are given space in an otherwise secularized culture. A playground for identity issues around biology and humanity's place on earth.
For example, a study from Gävle University shows that only five percent of participants have never sought nature for crisis management in a difficult life situation. Just as the discussion around what should be considered natural has never been more charged than now. The concept of natural forces can be interpreted in many ways. What is clear, however, is that its inspiration for existential questions and approaches obviously fills a variety of needs, which the exhibition Untitled Nature as intricately as implicitly shows.

“My relationship with nature in my art is both personal and symbolic. Nature often functions as a mirror for the feelings and experiences I want to convey. By using natural elements and motifs, I strive to highlight women's strength and fragility. Nature's beauty and rawness reflect the human experience in a way that words sometimes cannot capture,” says Lisen Stibek.