Camilla Engman: Beauty, Mystery, and the Search For Connection

'See You Next Wednesday,' by Camilla Engman

YOU CAN FEEL the craving in Camilla Engman’s work, but also the sense that something is just about to come true. And perhaps that is also the sister story of Engman: A sister to two brothers but not to another girl child, Camilla finds her sisters along the path–in the connection with her audience, in the sisterhood of other artists, and in close sister-friends. “I think we are always looking for our sisters,” says the prolific Swedish artist and illustrator. “Someone who loves you even when you are ugly inside/outside. And someone who wants to follow you on your adventures.”

Readers of Design*Sponge, decor8, Bloesem, or any number of other design blogs may already know Engman, and her muted colors and a naif, fanciful, yet still figurative style. Her drawings, paintings, prints and illustrated products seem to touch on mysteries and unnamed possibilities in a nearly real version of our world, full of people and creatures who look both familiar and of another place and time.

Camilla Engman (photograph by Elisabeth Dunker)

Camilla grew up in Trollhättan, a small town in southern Sweden. She trained at the Dome Art School and later at the School of Design and Craft, Gothenburg University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts.

'Air,' acrylic on board

Whether rendered in a folk-art style suggesting a fairytale world, or a more realistic painterly technique, Camilla’s images of animals or people inspire a wide range of feelings. Her work allows you to grasp a notion without robbing you of personal interpretation, creating the sensation of catching a fleeting glimpse of an idea or feeling–and often, a search for connection, kinship, or even–sisterhood.

Entering Camilla’s world can conjure a mysterious journey. Says the artist, “I like that things can change on the way, how expressions just form themselves, and how [the journey] gets me into different unexpected situations.”

Camilla’s many collaborations with other artists have produced a range of work including paper products (custom cards designed with Port2Port Press) and ceramics designed with Karin Erikkson, among others. She even designed custom Converse kicks for Bono’s AIDs fundraiser Product(RED)—needless to say, they sold out in a flash.

THE TSP INTERVIEW WITH CAMILLA ENGMAN

Q. “You know you’re a sister when…”

A. “It feels like you have always known each other.”

Q. Best of/worst of experience with your sister (whether biological or “sister-friends”).

Camilla and her first best friend, Lena

A. “I don’t have any biological sister (two brothers, though). I would have loved to have one. I have a few sister-friends and I’m working on it. A sister-friend is almost like a boy/girl friend, except the sex :) There is the falling-in-love period; you can feel jealous; you can be proud. You wish them nothing but the best, you think they look beautiful in the morning and they make your heart warm.”

Q. Are there pop-culture or other cultural references that make you think of your sister?

Camilla and Pippi Longstocking

A. “I’m inspired by everything that has a smell of life, cute or perverted. Conversations. People who care. People, music, books and films that surprise me. A good story. I think we are always looking for our sisters. Sometimes you can meet your sister just for a brief moment. On the bus or in a café, someone you immediately feel connected to, can be totally true with.”

Q. What does the word ’sister’ mean to you?

A. “A sister is a friend where you feel at home, where there is no need to be something/someone else. Someone who loves you even when you are ugly inside/outside. And someone who wants to follow you on your adventures.”

Q. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from your sister experience?

Camilla with sister-friends from the web

A. “My art creates bonds and some sort of sisterhood with other artists and people that like my work. The characters in my work are almost always alone, craving friendship in whichever shape.”

A GALLERY OF CAMILLA ENGMAN’S WORK
ASKED TO DESCRIBE her work, and how it comes to her, Camilla’s response is both introspective and provocative.  “I don’t know what I do and why. This is my language, this is what I do. This is what I do to keep myself sane, not sane as the opposite of insane, sane as in alive and aware. It takes much energy to keep myself open and sensitive. The work process is built on such fragile inducement. You have to take it slow and be very careful. This makes me aware of where and who I am in life. I want my work to contain some kind of beauty, beauty in a sense of ability to control the form, to care about it and the content.”

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You can learn more about Camilla at her website, which includes an extensive portfolio, her blog, and a shop offering many of her prints and other works. To get this year off to a beautiful start, you might want to check out her 2009 calendar—it features several of the works shown here. TSP sees many kinds of beauty in Camilla’s work; we know you’ll agree.
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(TSP’s curator of gallery shows like this one is Paige Smith Orloff, one of our founding sisters. Learn more about Paige on her blog, “Hey, Little Sister.”)

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