Curatorial Statement
Maitri — a Sanskrit term often translated as loving kindness — describes a state of unconditional friendliness toward oneself and the world. In Gustav Hjelmgren's new body of work, the word becomes a temperature, a posture, a way of looking.
The paintings move slowly. Soft, undulating, slippery forms seem almost animated in movement, yet never agitated, never frantic. Colour is laid down with a tenderness that resists urgency; surfaces breathe rather than declare. They are propositions for presence — quiet counterforces to the unrest and hardships of the world.
Across the exhibition, recurring motifs of concentric rings, organic contours and weighted brushwork ask the viewer to slow down. To stay. To look until looking becomes a form of care.
