Torkel Dahlstedt - Curiosity on Repeat

Curiosity is a fertile inclination. Without it - no development. One of the artist Torkel Dahlstedt's foremost driving forces has always been an insatiable curiosity and a desire to explore new areas of knowledge. This has led to a career as an artist in painting, graphics, sculpture, relief, and textiles, as well as a Creative Director and award-winning product designer.
"I will never be a person who does the same thing twice," he says emphatically.
In addition to life itself, studies in language in Madrid and Paris, and a decade as a language teacher, graphic studies with Harry van Kuyk in Nijmegen, Holland, studies in painting and sculpture with Idun Lovén in Stockholm and Claudio Palla in the Italian Pietrasanta, as well as design studies in Zurich, constitute Torkel Dahlstedt's more formal education.
He regards Velasquez and Goya as unbeatable artists and believes it is an excellent idea to spend considerable time at the Prado Museum in Madrid if one is interested in maturing as an artist and a human being.
Torkel Dahlstedt grew up surrounded by art and literature. He has often worked based on given themes, often linked to contemporary social observations. A source that has always inspired him is the writing of Harry Martinson, especially "Aniara". Recently, Torkel Dahlstedt has been working on a series of collages where the theme is "screams," in response to the high-pitched and attention-seeking tone in today's communication channels.
Torkel Dahlstedt does not want to appear as a superman; on the contrary, art should speak for itself. However, Superman is a highly topical motif for several works in this auction. Dahlstedt enjoys working with paraphrases as a way to further develop already powerful artworks. Here, he has taken Roman Cieslewicz's Cold War illustration "CCCP USA Superman" from 1968, added a catastrophically explosive quality, and ensnared the high-ranking figures of the world order in the chains of captivity.
"There are no winners in war," Torkel Dahlstedt concludes.