Mårran

by Stina Ekman

Artist Stina Ekman (Sverige, född 1950)

Alternate Title

The Groke

Date1989

MediumPinewood, lichen and flax

DimensionsYttermått: 168 × 166 × 135 cm

ClassificationSculptures

Credit LinePurchase 2021 (Swedish Acquisitions 2021)

Countries

Sweden

Object NumberMOM/2021/187

CollectionsSömnlösa nätter, Svenska förvärv 2021

The artwork is not on display

About the artworkThe rough, grey boards are from a dismantled barn, weathered with age. The pinewood surface has silvery streaks of coarse bard lichen. Stina Ekman has arranged wide and narrow strips of wood into a herringbone pattern, to make a large sculpture. In the stories about Moomin, the Groke is a ghost-like, scary character who symbolises our fear of the unknown. The material that Ekman chose for this work conveys the very light and warmth that the Groke secretly longs for. The encounter between nature and art, between hand and mind, inspires hope. This sculpture and the eleven self-portraits from the 1970s are all based on artist’s own body dimensions as a measure of the human capacity to experience different “realities”.
Signatures, inscriptions and marks Osignerad Selected exhibition history Sömnlösa nätter. Från 1980-talet i Moderna Museets samling (den 24 februari 2023 - den 14 januari 2024) Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Works by the artist