Svend-Allan Sørensen
Photo by Rico Feldfoss
In Focus
Svend-Allan Sørensen
“I derive from a farm in Jutland. Today I am aware that this is also where my art derives from.
In recent years, my work increasingly reflects my rural upbringing, as if I drove backwards at full speed. My work is not street. My work is fields and woods.
It talks about what I grew up with and still care about. In this way, my work is contemporary.
At least my contemporary.I see my work as a long mumbling, visual beat poem. The literary inspiration is pervasive and several images consist only of short sentences that barely deal with the crow.
My fascination with this dark bird is often the starting point for my work. In order to make graphics work for me, it must have the character of a crow.In my work with graphics, I have used all sorts of knives and engraving tools as well as hunting weapons and stitches. For me, a knife, a nail, a hunting weapon are all rural tools that emphasize my artistic intention and my personal roots.
Printmaking, to me, is a contemporary medium: it is rooted in past traditions, and it moves into new territories of the future.
I like to think of my work as an extension of Danish artist Søren Hjorth Nielsen (1901-83)”.
(“Statement” by Svend-Allan Sørensen)
Isabel Berglund working on Fluid Island of Pearls at The Danish Art Workshops in Copenhagen
Photos by Dorte Krogh
Isabel Berglund uses different types of yarn to both embrace and challenge familiar forms and objects. Working with sculpture and installation, she explores the space between the recognizable and the abstract, transforming elements such as furniture and organic shapes through knitted yarn. Her energetic knitting, often marked by loose ends and fluid structures, reshapes everyday objects and blurs their original function and meaning.
Berglund’s works focus on the relationship between material, color, and space, emphasizing the tactile qualities of yarn and the aesthetic potential of craft. Through simple color palettes, transparency, and layered surfaces, she draws attention to subtle details and sensory experiences. Her creative process is guided by the materials themselves, allowing form to emerge organically.
Installation view of Fluid Island of Pearls, 2025 in ILLUM
Materials: yarn, aluminium, styrofoam
1450 x 1200 x 1550 cm
Photo by Dorte Krogh
Isabel Berglund at her art residency in Rome
Berglund is currently undertaking an artist residency at The Danish Academy in Rome, where she will remain until the end of June. During her stay, she is in the progress of developing a new series of large textile works, which will be part of her upcoming solo exhibition at SPECTA in 2027.
“I am very grateful to have been awarded this stay, which forms the framework for the development of a new series of large textile works. Here, I am delving into my personal history, where Catholicism has particularly shaped my mother’s side of the family, while my grandmother plays a central role on my father’s side.
My grandmother grew up with her Italian grandparents in Amaliegade, where the family originally came from Rome, and later attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. She unfortunately became mentally ill and was therefore a distant figure in my childhood, but I have always been fascinated by her and her world. She signed her birthday cards “Die Aller Schöneste Helena”, which she also believed her canary sang. She lived in a romantic reality that also inspired her work.”
Works in progress
(Isabel Berglund, May 2026)
Besides the new works for Berglund’s upcoming solo exhibition at SPECTA in 2027, she has also worked on new art works that will be shown at CHART Art Fair 2026
Examples of works for CHART 2026 down below (for more information of the works at CHART, click here)
Works in progress