OLLE OHLSSON
Silver artist and Silversmith
Olle
Ohlsson is a designer who is not taking
"usability" into account or
adjust his design to rational rules. His
work in silver and gold shows that playfullness
is often in evidence.
A look through Olle Ohlsson´s many
fantastic objects shows that he nearly
always uses the raised vessel as his base.
Already in the 1960s he discovered that
turning a bowl uppside down results in
a head. The same simple principle applies
to most of the hats. They are bowls that
have been endowed with a special kind
of life.
Looking at Olle Ohlsson´s art,
ranging as it does from unconscious extravagance
to everyday simplicity, it strikes me
that he is really looking for the object´s
innate mysteriousness.
The material tranforms things into something
else than what they appear to be when
he plays with proportions and meanings
and provides the careful observer with
constant suprises. Often with enigmatic
undertones that invite different interpretations.
There is no book of rules for a creative
silversmith," says Olle. "One
must give oneself time to listen to what
the silver wants, how it replies to the
hammer´s language. As for myself,
I am never so much at ease as when I have
silver under my hands. There is something
mysterious about that."
(excerpts from the book "Silver
& Gold", 1991)
|