At the Swedish Institute, the magical paintings of Ylva Snöfrid

In the stillness of a snowy landscapea beating of black wings raises gold dust. Surrounded by high mountains, a naked woman stands upright in the freezing cold, like an apparition.

Ribbons of blue smoke, swarms of luminous nuggets… Strange swirls escape from its ears or mouth to fly towards the sky. Further away, an elongated body exhales a cloud of starsand a crystalline bubble floats in the firmament, in the middle of a shower of stars.

A Viking priestess

Each of these small paintings arranged in Ylva Snöfrid’s lair has the effect a talisman, or a black magic accessory. Matched with the artist, who welcomes us like a Viking priestess, dressed in a long dark dress, her waist surrounded by a thin golden rod and her long wavy gray hair cascading down his back. This hair recurs several times in his paintings, allowing us to recognize it, even from behind, in his compositions.

No boundaries between woman and artist: Ylva paints everywhere in her houseon the floor, in the middle of his living room. Above a door, a painted eye, containing the reflection of a Venetian mask, observes us. Mixed with curious gris-gris, his art invades the entirety of his apartment-studio in Stockholmwhere she lives with her Chilean husband Rodrigo Mallea Lira (her partner of 30 years) and their two daughters.