Sustained breathing / strained soul / a soliloquy on the nature of seclusion and the volatility of existence; seen through the eyes of an abstract myth

The work intertwines thoughts of death and identity with mythical beings and curious worlds found in Swedish stories and folklore. Featuring throughout the soundwork is an old reed organ that was once used by my great grandparents, dusty and weathered from years of neglect. The organ becomes a new entity by merging itself with the abstract myth risen from ancient times, from a place that lies deep beneath and deep within.

Astrid Björklund is a Swedish interdisciplinary artist creating work that draw on traditions and mythology of the North, combined with themes of mysticism and chaos.

Astrid is curious about the potential to transform and merge mythical elements with our realities through different means of storytelling. Drawing on the theories of the “Chthonic” (of relating to, or in, the underworld), she wishes to explore these narratives of imagined realms beneath our feet, and the critters that dwell within them. It is dark, strange, and curious, operating from both wonder and grief – melancholy and comfort. The hazy spaces between fact and fiction are entangled with narratives of mysticism. A re-enchantment.