Olle Norås – Sångerna gör oss starkare

Cecilia Hillstrom Gallery is pleased to present our first exhibition with painter Olle Norås, Sångerna gör oss starkare (The songs make us stronger). Working mainly with gouache on paper, Norås creates meticulous abstract paintings drawing inspiration from nature, sacred places and spirituality.

In his paintings, micro and macro worlds appear full of movement and life – like a cross-section of humus or moss in a primaeval forest. Norås’s works are deeply connected to our experience and idea of nature – capturing something elemental and perhaps lost in our contemporary lives. In the studio, engrossed in a time-consuming practice, Norås bring forth a playful and meditative flow imbued with existential questions. Self-perceived experiences and nature’s constant metamorphoses infuse Norås practice, capturing inner and outer landscapes in his work.

The exhibition Sångerna gör oss starkare includes a new series of works, echoing wreaths alluding to folklore and rituals. Following in the long tradition of landscape painting, Norås’s paintings of fantastical flora may also be seen in the light of the looming environmental crisis, the possible extinction of many of the Earth’s species and our part in this development. At the same time, the details of delicate outlines and colours in his work create a striking animated whole which seems to playfully move inwards and deepen, offering both resilience and hope.

Olle Norås (born in Gagnef 1982) is based in Stockholm. He has studied at the Royal Institute of Art (2013-2015) and holds a BFA in ironwork from HDK Steneby, Academy of Design and Crafts, the University of Gothenburg (2011). Selected exhibitions include Avesta Art 2022, Avesta, Emerging, 2021, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki, Bland dessa uråldriga spiror, 2021, Eva Livijn, Stockholm and Träden står ljust gröna – Landskapsmåleri då och nu, 2020, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm. Norås was awarded one of the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Foundation Grants in 2017. His works are included in the collections of Moderna Museet, Malmö Art Museum, Public Art Agency Sweden, Turku Art Museum/Lars Göran Johnsson Collection, Finland, Region Stockholm, Region Skåne, Region Uppsala, Region Gävleborg, as well as in private collections.