Dit–Cilinn – Murmur

There’s a kind of hush; a layered murmur that haunts these works. A felt, not heard chorus of creaking leather, rustling leaves, the opium hum of shot nerves soothed, the snore of drunken teenagers: of creaking hipbones and ligaments stretching — the rumble of digestion and an infant’s heart beating.

Cecilia Hillström Gallery is pleased to present Dit-Cilinn’s fourth exhibition at the gallery, Murmur. With a deep foundation in nature and spirituality, Dit-Cilinn works with sculpture and installation through elaborate objects in both large-scale and intimate projects. Dit-Cilinn interweaves ideas of mythology and ecology in her art, where the opposition of nature and culture is reframed.

In Murmur, Dit-Cilinn explores the myth of Mercury through new sculptures and leaf collages. Drawing inspiration from the ancient roman God, the exhibition echoes the trickster Mercury’s presence. For some, he is the master of the aether, the fifth element, meddling in everything from the weather to communication and trade. For others, his ability to move beyond the living world makes him notorious as the guide of departing souls to the underworld.

With a unique attention to detail and inventive use of materials, Dit-Cilinn presents a skilfully executed installation which taps into the desire for something transcendent.

Dit-Cilinn (born 1983 in Mora, Sweden) attended Valand Academy, Gothenburg, and the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, in 2006-09. She holds an MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco (2013). In 2014, Dit-Cilinn was awarded one of the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Grants. In 2017 she concluded a two-year Rijksakademie Residency in Amsterdam.

In addition, Dit-Cilinn has been working with David Ohlsson as Ohlsson/Dit-Cilinn since 2009. The artist duo has collaborated through installations, sculptures, performances and public commissions. Ohlsson/Dit-Cilinn has exhibited at UCCA Dune Art Museum, Qinhuangdao, China, Museo de la Ciudad, Querétaro, México, Regina Rex, New York, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm (performance), Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, DAMA Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana with Siliqoon, For-site Foundation, Nevada City, Cinnnamon, Rotterdam, and Canal 05 in Brussels. In 2019, they participated in Part of the Labyrinth at GIBCA, the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art. Public commissions include ONE (rising tide falling star) inaugurated in autumn 2022 at Sjöfartsmuseet Akvariet in Göteborg, commissioned by Göteborg Konst and the upcoming project Valvanda at Skogskyrkogården in Gävle 2023/2024, commissioned by the Church of Sweden. Ohlsson/Dit-Cilinn is represented in the collections of Magasin III - Museum for Contemporary Art, The Gothenburg Museum of Art, Public Art Agency, Bonnier Collection, Elekta Corporate Collection, Region Stockholm and NoCo as well as private collections.