Martina Hoogland Ivanow is a Swedish artist
Episode 246: Martina Hoogland Ivanow is a Swedish artist working at the crossroads of photography, video, and bookmaking.
It is worth putting a couple of shout-outs here as there were two people or teams instrumental in triggering my interest in Martina, whose work I had not previously known. First, Thank YOU, to Alex Bocchetto for putting Martina’s book Speedway out into the ether for me to see. It tripped the wire for me and led me to Livraison Publishers who were amazing in sending over a copy of Satellite + Circular Wait for me. I had already purchased Speedway from them and think they do really wonderful books. I am relatively new to diving into the nordic scene but am really quite taken with the incredible amounts of work going on there.
In the episode, Martina spoke about her background as an artist and her earlier semi-nomadic existence living between New York, Sweden, and London. We spoke about her commercial work and her practice that led to the production of her sumptuous and crepuscular style and books. I really am at a loss to describe the work in relation to other artists as it is incredibly unique. It works on so many levels and delivers an unnerving quality that is hard to pin. It feels uncanny and at times intimate. It feels alien, yet familiar. We spoke about these characteristics as well as the main themes of her work, such as nature throughout the episode. Please tune in and check out Livraison. Pick up her books as soon as possible.
