Helena Blomqvist and the fictional reality

In the worlds Blomqvist creates, where the set design plays as big a role as the main characters, we encounter unsentimental melancholy and tender humour in a surrealist composition. Her imagery is characterised by the dreamlike and fateful scenery and the population consisting of animals, creatures, women and children - often dressed up and placed in environments that open doors to the subconscious. A key element of Blomqvist's work has long been her interest in contemporary mythologies combined with the history of art, photography and film.

Blomqvist constructs her alternative worlds in her studio in Södermalm and in an old school in Dalarna, where she has a larger studio - but she also travels and makes the photographs on location in real environments. Her working technique differs significantly from the assumptions we have about the photographic process as most of Blomqvist's work lies in the construction of the set and costume. A time-consuming process that she can spend weeks or months chiselling out her beautifully crafted creations - a result of her extreme accuracy and attention to detail.

Once the set design is complete, she photographs the creation and assembles the image digitally. Sometimes it is more collage-like and sometimes the image is almost finished right after the shooting. But she also travels and makes the photographs on location in real environments.

In principle, I never do this kind of project except for a few times when I have made editions in connection with my books. It feels great to make the images in larger editions and to make my work more accessible.

- Each photograph is part of a larger story. I work intuitively and try to capture the mood of the times. I create images critical of civilisation with a humorous approach where I highlight invisible people from the periphery. It has been about exclusion, ageing, memories and the passage of time.

Together with Blomqvist, Nordiska Galleriet is now releasing two editions of her works The Floating Girl (2020) and Boy With Godzilla (2013).

Floating Girl (2020)

In Slumberland (2013), from which Boy With Godzilla is taken, we see sequences of a little boy's nocturnal adventures, based on the dreams and nightmares of her son. Together with Godzilla, the boy watches the splendours of civilisation and the great adventures from afar. But they also embark on their own adventures. It's about stepping outside and seeing things in a new way, with the magical thinking of a child. At night, the street where he lives turns into a magical place. A boat ride at sea becomes an epic journey. He defies his fears and sets off into the unknown. The image Boy With Godzilla was photographed in a real environment in a beech forest on Djurgården and the one metre tall Godzilla was made by Blomqvist himself in clay.

The second work, The Floating Girl, 2020, shows a girl floating away in an atmospheric, magical state. The dense mood of the photograph shows a scene that has a fantastic, dreamy and surreal atmosphere with influences from the history of photography, such as Alfred Eisenstaedt. In her visual narratives Blomqvist often works with close friends and family, in The Floating Girl we see her daughter - who often appears in her visual narratives - as the floating girl and her friend. The editions will be available in a limited edition of 50.

- The collaboration with Nordiska Galleriet feels exciting and interesting. In principle, I never do this kind of project except for a few times when I have made editions in connection with my books. It feels great to make the images in larger editions and to make my work more accessible.