Viktoria Hallenius
A pedestrian advances, riders on horseback travel towards the horizon; lone figures in a vast expanse of landscape. The forms of the figures are depicted in a combination of brush strokes; bold and faint. The figures are part defined, part implied. Solid but somewhat translucent at the same time, they assert themselves and yet are part of the background. Present and absent, they are captured almost in a moment of simultaneously appearing and disappearing, thus isolating the present tense. Large areas of land and sky are laid out for us. We are aware of paint, colour and the coarse texture of the canvas. Such are the paintings of Viktoria Hallenius.
These paintings are undoubtedly existential; people in the world, people in Nature. The tone is one of optimism however. The subjects are not alienated by the landscape, they interact with it, embrace it.
As an artist Viktoria concerns herself with Beauty. Beauty in the World. Beauty in Nature. With loosely rendered paint, colour and an obvious presence of exposed canvas she depicts skies, oceans, deserts, shorelines and snowscapes. Her figures enjoy these spaces, celebrate them. These works are about a celebration. A celebration of Beauty. A celebration of Life.
Viktoria brings to these pieces elements of herself, elements of her own life. We witness memories of the desert, Egyptian shorelines, the green fields of England, scenes from Scandinavia and the Mediterranean sun. Like their authoress, the works are warm, feminine and organic. Her female protagonists are nobly dressed. Her figures bathe in the Sublime; sun, moon, sea, green fields, earth and snow. This is her world.