In her art, Malena Olsson examines phenomena, myths and stories about our seas in general and the Baltic Sea in particular. Central are sculptural works of art in glass and cloisonne enamel. The motifs are perceived as lyrical and imaginative and concretized in the decorative. Several contain strong messages regarding the importance of protecting our nature expressed in text.
Malena Olsson creates spatial stories in her exhibitions. For the past five years, she has frequently exhibited in interesting places as ships yards and that echo the questions her art asks and create a holistic experience. Malena invites us into her artistic process where she seeks answers to existential questions about our relationship to our common living environment. In a broader sense, she makes visible the core of the Anthropocene era, the human impact on the sea and the environment.
Themes that Malena Olsson touched and problematized include; ”Ghost nets” describing the devastation of fishing nets left in the oceans, ”Eel darkness” depicting the backside of international eel fishing by depleting a species to near extinction, ”Wreck” a deep dive to the bottom of the Baltic Sea to highlight its unique cultural treasure and recent she has been inspired by the eelgrass meadows, which are the sea’s nursery with a lot of life and movement on the seabed. Eelgrass is essential for many of the sea’s species.
Regardless of the form of expression or technique, Malena’s gripping works of art convey stories about the past, present and mysticism with indications of our common future.