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No. 3
Chapter 17.

Malin Gabriella
Nordin

ARTWORK AND SKETCHES BY MALIN GABRIELLA NORDIN
INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTUMN HRUBÝ

Arts, Interview

Malin Gabriella Nordin is an artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. Hesperios is delighted to present a portfolio of her work. A recent discussion between Malin and Autumn Hrubý accompanies the images.

Interview

Hesperios

What’s the color that you can’t live without?

Malin Gabriella Nordin

All of them and all of their shades and mixes; the combination of different colors together and how they change depending on their surroundings and form.

Hesperios

What habit have you added to your routine in the last year that has made your life better?

Nordin

Playing tennis. I did it as a kid for many years but I quit when I was a teenager. Then I started again two years ago and I’m so happy for finding my way back to it. It makes me really happy and it has helped me in many ways. I try to play at least two times a week.

Hesperios

Can you think of a place you’ve never traveled to, but that you feel you’ve already visited?

Nordin

It feels like many places, but I don’t even know if they exist. So many landscapes and worlds that appear and evolve before the eyes of my mind.

Hesperios

What recipe do you know by heart?

Nordin

Pancakes, haha.

Hesperios

Which meal do you most often make for yourself?

Nordin

I’m really bad at remembering to eat, and then I’m too hungry so I buy candy. But huevos rancheros with black beans and guacamole is often my lifesaver.

Hesperios

What about this: Any number fewer than __ hours, is not a day of work?

Nordin

I don’t count the hours, it’s all the time. It’s something that’s always growing inside of me and then it grows even more when I let it out.

I am incredibly fascinated by the process—how thoughts, compositions, and stories emerge, how an empty canvas or paper can become worlds I did not even know existed before. Everything is possible: one form meets another, then becomes a basis for new forms to build on. The feeling in a line or a color changes in the meeting with another. Different compositions are built up and lead me forward. It’s a curiosity that drives me. And the deeper I go, the more I discover. It’s an infinite space that just keeps growing. I think it’s amazing how I can do something over and over again, day after day, and yet always have more to discover and learn.

(Actually it’s always such a weird thought when I begin to think that this is what I do for work. It’s such a dream to just do what comes naturally and what I love to do, and at the same time being able to make a living on it — I’m very thankful.)

Hesperios

What do you do when you can’t focus in the studio?

Nordin

Stare at the wall, stare at a painting, change music, drink coffee, begin something new, go for a walk, eat candy, take a nap, meet friends, dance…

Hesperios

Love letter or a playlist?

Nordin

Both!

Hesperios

Which films influenced you as a child?

Nordin

Neverending Story. Star Wars.

Hesperios

What are the foundations of art?

Nordin

Freedom.