On October 1st, Spoke Art in San Francisco will be hosting the opening of Stranger, Stella Im Hultberg’s (interviewed) first solo in four years after spending some time to become a mother. The new oil paintings, loosely rendered watercolor, and india ink sketches are an exploration into the female identity, something she has been thinking about as of late.
She further explains – “There was a lot of ‘heaviness of love’ that I felt since becoming a parent, a very heavy-feeling blessing. I’m sure many parents would agree. Maybe overabundance of flowers are a bit related to that – delicate flowers in heaps can become very heavy and hard to bear. Even the most beautiful things that can make it hard to breathe for you. But things happen in life, not just children, that can make you change before you realize. And suddenly you realize that you’re different. You see that you’re still you, but somehow you aren’t you anymore – you’re a stranger to yourself.”
