Emma Ekstam has worked as an artist and illustrator since graduating from Konstfack in 2014. She comes from a background in scenic painting and decorative painting.
Her primary motive for making art is to engage with her inner world, to cut through the daily onslaught of images and to observe what her mind is actually occupied with. The process of painting always leads her in a positive direction.
Please scroll down for CV and bio.
emmaekstam@gmail.com
0046 (0)732687525
Clients:
Uppsala Stadsteater, Det Kongelige Teater, Riksutställningar, Konstfrämjandet Skåne, Wanås Konst, Scandic Hotels, Regionmuseet Skåne, Bonnier Carlsen, Gyldendahl, Natur Kultur, Opal, Rabén&Sjögren, Monki m.fl
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Exhibitions:
Brösarps Konsthall - keramik grupputställning 2026
Brösarps Konsthall - grupputställning 2026
Sergelgatans konsthall - Stockholm, grupputställning “Vikgubbar” 2023
REDAN galleri - Malmö, grupputställning “Ode to painting” 2022
MARC Skofabriken - “Aspirations” Knislinge 2022
Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling KE18 – Köpenhamn 2018
Konstfack – examens utställning 2014
Visby Konsthall, Grafiska rummet 2013
Bologna Childrens bookfair 2013
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Education:
2010-2014 Konstfack University of Arts and Crafts, Stockholm, Sweden
2015-2017 Artpreservation Assistant to Skånes Målerikonservatorer
2018-2019 Scenic painter in Copenhagen, Spectra, working with assignments for The Royal Danish Theatre, apprentice to David Drachmann
Artist Bio
I grew up in the south of Sweden and I have always been interested in making images. As a kid I looked at my grandfathers watercolours, and even though he had passed away I felt a strong connection to him. Just the fact that this grownup thought it was worthwhile to paint images made a strong impression on me. I come from a family of doctors and engineers and I’ve had to struggle to allow myself to make images just for it’s own sake, and the first step in this direction was to go study illustration at Konstfack in Stockholm. After my exam in 2014 I worked as a freelance illustrator for a couple of years, until I got the opportunity to work as an assistant for a company working with art preservation run by smart and inspiring women (Skånes Målerikonservatorer), and I came to do a lot of decoration panting. Two years later family life made me move to Copenhagen, where I started working with theatre and scenic painting learning from the masters David Drachmann and Søren Hornemann. Working on large scale imagery for Den Kongelige Teater and other cultural institutions in Denmark completely changed my way of working, and I’ve learnt several new techniques which I’m now implementing into my own practice.
I look and I sketch and I think, and the imagery I’m interested in usually has a feeling of impending doom but at the same time there is acceptance. In my work, I try to capture the feeling of being alive in this day and age.