THE LADY OF THE ARTS
Multi-hyphenate artist Ingela Johansson aims to capture the thought between the spoken word and what the eye captures
The celebrated French painter Edgar Degas once said that art isn’t about what one sees, but what one makes other people see. And that is what Swedish-born, Singapore-based artist Ingela Johansson attempts to do with her multifarious works, which use rapidly changing Asia as their stepping stone to inspiration.
“Change has always been a theme in my art,” shares the prolific artist. “With my brush and lenses, I seek those moments when we are changing or when we realise that we have to choose.”
Using daily life as sensitive commentary against a grander exploration of globalisation, Ingela has worked in genres as varied as fashion illustrations and silk paintings to surrealist collages.
Now in her latest incarnation as a mixed medium artist, she hopes to break tradition while still keeping true to the past. “In Singapore, change is happening so fast that the old still stands wall to wall with the ultra modern.”
Ingela’s series, Tales of Singapore, is a culmination of her acute social observations and artistic interpretation. The universality of her body of work is unmistakable—Ingela’s art now hangs in homes in Dubai, America, England, Singapore, Iran, Norway, Australia, Sweden and New Zealand.
Last year, she held international exhibitions in the Rosalie Gallery in Australia and the Galleri Bergman in Sweden. Her sold-out “Soul Sisters” exhibition in Singapore’s Volvo Art Loft with Balinese artist Ni Nyoman Sani explored the ideas of role models, dreams and symbols in today’s commercialised world.
A patron of the arts, Ingela also holds private art classes through her company, Swedish Art and Design, to nurture the creative spirit within her students. She has brought her students to Bali on art trips, and also visited an orphanage in China to paint.
This year, Ingela plans to, once again, push beyond her comfort zone. Besides plans for a spring exhibition in Singapore, she will be collaborating with home interior brand, Red Carpet SG, and featured in an upcoming show about her art, Tales of 2 Cities, on Singapore’s Channel 5.