Acquired directly from the artist Sotheby's, New York, "Fusion: Contemporary Art and Design," December 14, 2010, lot 108 Acquired from the above by the present owners
Literature
Love Jönsson and Petter Eklund, Eva Hild, Stockholm, 2009, illustrated p. 2
Catalogue Essay
Single-Track: An Interview with Eva Hild Why is clay one of your preferred mediums and how does it enhance your overall design concept? Clay is sticky, heavy, plastic, and multifaceted—a wonderful material in every aspect. Clay has been my main material since I started my artistic education and career. It has been the prerequisite for my exploration of themes ending up in sculptural shapes. I like how the material can be used in different ways and transformed into something totally new and unexpected. I like the bodily connection—working with my body, working with abstract bodies—and the long-term relation during the process, from the first clay-lump to the ready-made sculpture. My shapes have strong spatial and architectural qualities; from smaller clay models I develop my large scale outdoor sculptures in metal materials.
You have described your sculptures as expressive of both “strength and fragility” as well as “presence and absence.” How does Single-Track represent these seemingly contradictory ideas? I am fascinated by the relation between inner and outer reality and the dualism between inside and outside. The actual sculpture is the membrane, the in-between. I use my own life, experiences, and emotions and describe this relation. On one hand, it is the mass in thin layers, running in a meandering movement. On the other hand it is the empty space, air and light forming the volumes. The construction is really made of the absent. The clay material also contributes to this duality. The actual wall of the sculpture is strong and fragile like an eggshell.
Many collectors may be familiar with your organic forms in which thin layers of clay delicately envelope and fold onto each other. How has this practice evolved over the last two decades? And where does Single-Track fall within this trajectory? My work is very much connected to my life—the everyday practice and overall happenings. It is a constant and slow change and an ongoing development. I am continuously exploring my themes in different materials. My starting points could vary, but I do have a red thread in my storytelling. I work with the material in a close, intimate, planned, and still intuitive way. It is an interaction between brain, body and material. Single-Track is a sculpture from an early stage of the “Loop” series of work, where one line is moving around in the piece. The structure is open and airy with a strong and clear movement.
How did you decide on the title Single-Track? I strive for titles that are easy to perceive and that describe something in the actual sculpture, both visually and in content. Preferably I find different meanings in one word. Single-Track has a strong, circular movement kept together without deviations.
Property from the Collection of Trudie Styler & Sting