Sonja Löfgren-Birch

Sonja Löfgren-Birch (b. 1978) is a Finnish artist currently residing in south Stockholm. Her recent work has addressed the themes of belonging and wanderlust, and are often inspired by the places she has visited. Travel changes the way Löfgren-Birch sees the world. It allows her to see trees and nature from a different perspective than that in her everyday environment. She records what she sees with a mobile phone and revisits the photos at her desk in Stockholm to move them onto fabric by hand. Photos are like notes, which allow her to work on what she has seen and select fragments. Löfgren-Birch draws with a needle and thread.

Sonja Löfgren

Since 2007, Löfgren-Birch’s works have been exhibited in Finland, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, France and South Korea. Löfgren-Birch holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Craft from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm. Her works are represented in the Finnish State Art Collection.

“To me, a picture is always connected to sounds and events from my own life. When the picture is ready and displayed in a gallery, someone else will see it and make the geographical location and my memories irrelevant. They will experience it through their own memories and world knowledge. A picture from the east coast of Australia is reimagined as one from the archipelago in Southern Finland. We interpret the world from our individual experience.

Though I work on visual art, other forms of art are crucial sources of inspiration to me. I read a lot, and literature allows me to look at things and themes from a different point of view. That is important to me.”