Julia Hallström Hjort

“I have always dreamt of living in an old house somewhere close to nature, where I have enough space for an art studio and a big garden,” says Swedish artist Julia Hallström Hjort, and continues with a light laughter: “Then I would fill the house with old collectables and antiques, and get a cat and a dog.” 

At the moment Julia lives in the southern part of Sweden, in the city of Malmö, and enjoys a life of simplicity. She has been a painter for several years but actually started out studying medicine and psychology. “However, I suffer from chronic pains and had to give up my studies. Instead, I turned to painting. It has been a big part of my rehabilitation.”

The pieces by Julia all have an air of calmness: Soft, organic shapes, subtle colours and finesse for textures dominate her artistic practice. She mainly uses acrylics and oil paint but also explores the look of crayons and pencils. 

“I’ve discovered that I like to paint with more colours than I used to. Everything I did, used to be very subtle in muted beige, white and blue,” she says. “Now I’m playing around with brighter colours and enjoy the process of incorporating shades I used to avoid.”