We welcome back Portland-based artist Stella Im Hultberg with her latest edition Hiding The Blue! Hultberg latest work was created after the artist’s recent move to the Pacific Northwest, focusing on Asian sumi inks which have been an increasing medium of interest for the multi-faceted artist. Working through a new process internally this edition shows a new direction for Hultberg and shows promise of new growth as she moves into 2016. Read on as Hultberg gives us the background on Hiding The Blue and much more…
1xRUN: Tell us a little bit about this piece.
Stella Im Hultberg: This piece is one of the largest paintings I’ve done so far (even then it’s only 22” x 28”), made in the summer of 2015. It’s titled “Hiding the Blue”.
1x: Was this piece part of a recent theme, series or show that you had? If so how did it fit into that given grouping?
Stella Im Hultberg: Continuing from 2014 after my move to Portland, I kept on exploring more of the floral/nature theme and developed a body of works for my solo show, Stranger, at Spoke Art Gallery in San Francisco.
This particular piece was used in the flyers and posters for the show, making it sort of a title piece that ties all the rest of the pieces in the show and the theme together.
1x: What materials were used to create this piece with?
Stella Im Hultberg: Sumi ink, acrylic, watercolor, colored pencils and crayon on wood.
1x: When was this piece created and how long did it take to complete?
Stella Im Hultberg: I did this back in Summer of 2015 over maybe a month or so while working concurrently on other pieces (and also being a mom). It took a while.
1x: Is there anything immediate you would like us to highlight?
Stella Im Hultberg: The vibrant flowers that may seem glamorous have a lot of loose and crude details up close. Also, I will be using my freshly carved chop marks on the prints.
1x: Tell us a little bit about your process and how the idea and execution came about for this piece?
Stella Im Hultberg: For the past couple years, I became more intensely interested in traditional Asian (Korean) ink art. I wanted to use ink a bit more heavily and wanted to try more playful and rough lines to depict the flowers.
Ink on wood isn’t the best combination and with the heavily loaded ink, it was very tricky to work around it. It just took many layers and tries.
Unlike the previous flower pieces, the flowers are heavier in this… clustered together and making a burdensome bundle. The conflicted, ever-so-intense, mixed emotions of parenthood was the idea and reason behind this piece. The aforementioned crude details on flowers reflect a bit of all this.
1x: What do you feel is unique about this piece compared to some of your other work?
Stella Im Hultberg: The biggest difference, for me (probably won’t matter to anyone else), might be the approach. I used to have a much more abstract, blurry beginnings and I worked into the painting process to realize why and how I came to paint what I had. This one might be the first piece that I actually had clear intention and meaning before and while working on it.
1x: Describe these piece in one gut reaction word.
Stella Im Hultberg: Torn.
Hiding The Blue by Stella Im Hultberg – Click To Purchase
1x: What are your plans for 2016? Any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Stella Im Hultberg: I have some group shows here and there and a solo show in November 2016 alongside Audrey Kawasaki at Thinkspace Galllery in LA (Culver City).
1x: Where else can people find you?
Stella Im Hultberg: Instagram @stellaimhultberg – Twitter @stellaimhult – Facebook
-1xRUN