Josefin Norlin

Josefin Norlin works across painting, textile art, sculpture and collage. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, she has spent many years designing retail concepts alongside her artistic practice, an experience that continues to inform her interest in building visual worlds and shaping environments.

“I think life is, much like art, an opportunity to orchestrate your own version of life,” she reflects. This way of thinking runs through her work, where everyday objects and familiar subjects are reinterpreted through simplified forms and a distinct use of colour. Traditional still life remains a recurring point of reference, approached in what she describes as “my own simplified, naive way.”

Process, Palette and Perspective
Josefin’s work often begins with a colour or visual impression drawn from her surroundings. “It could be a sun bleached flyer on the street, a funky sweater or the cool silky feel of pansy petals… it could be anything really that sparks my interest.” From there, she builds compositions where colour and form are closely connected, translating small, observed moments into new visual arrangements.

Painting primarily with vinyl colour, gouache and aquarelle on paper or wood, she moves between mediums rather than settling into one. Her work is guided by a desire to explore, as she notes: “I’m way too restless to devote myself to one medium only. Not everything will always be a success but that’s not important; I tried, I learned something and I had fun doing it.”

Colour plays a central role in shaping the atmosphere of her work. “No matter how turbulent life may be, I find it important to always hold on to colour,” she says, describing a practice that leans towards warmth, softness and a sense of slowed time. Nature remains a constant reference point, particularly flowers and birds, alongside an ongoing reflection on our relationship to the natural world.