Artospective: Dark Art by Kim Jakobsson from Sweden.

Function

An Interview with Kim Jakobsson.

Who and where are you from?

I'm an artist from a small town called Örebro, located in the middle of Sweden. You have never heard of it. Probably.

What brought you to Art?

I've always been painting, but only quite recently I decided to take it to the next level. I'm very active on Instagram where I try to promote my art as much as possible. The need to express myself has always been a big part of my life, whether it's through writing or painting. At this point in my life it's all about painting though.

What is your driving force?

To constantly develop my skillset. I feel like I learn new things every day about painting. And I also have a dream to be able to do this on full time, like every artist out there I suppose. It's a weird time for contemporary artists, there are so many of us – and only a handful will be able to do it full time. Hopefully I can be one of them soon. I'm trying my best to make that happen, but it's tough.

What kind of work you do and why?

I pretty much only paint human subjects. There have been times where I've tried to paint different things, but I always end up coming back to humans. There is something endlessly fascinating about the body and the face. I guess my work could be described as surreal and dark. I try to delve deep into the human psyche and extract our deepest fears and anxiety.

Tell us more about your thought process.

I as many probably feel like it's damn near impossible to be original in this climate. Everything has been done a million times already, and I struggle alot with trying to come up with new ideas. I spend many hours a day painting, but end up throwing alot of stuff away – since it lacks originality.

My process usually consists of me painting a pretty normal portrait. Let it sink in for a day or two, and then I deform it and try to make the painting look weird. I do what with many different techniques – but my end goal is always to make it as weird as possible. But at the same time the painting needs to retain some sort of realism. I do believe that art today need some sort of realism in order to convey an emotion. Totally abstract stuff is of zero interest to me.

Please share with us the one modern artist whose work you find Interesting and why?

Oh wow, there are so many. I would have to say Ken Currie, an oil painter from Scotland. He's a huge inspiration to me. He has a really interesting way of portraying people in a weird and creepy way. His painting "Gallowgate Lass" is one of the most haunting images I've seen.

This guy toally deserves more recognition. A true master when it comes to dark art.