Agneta Ekholm

Integrating the aesthetic qualities of both minimalism and hard-edge painting, expressed with a gentle countenance, her visual language sits comfortably within the global history of abstract painting. Infused with an awareness of the trace — the physical act of painting — as well as the emotional charge embedded within it, her elegant compositions act as veils through which profound contemplation can be encountered.

Balancing refined simplicity with an emotional charge Ekholm’s serene paintings elicit moments of contemplation that resonates deeply with viewers. The organic flow of her forms and the meditative quality of her surfaces transcend the boundaries of abstraction, offering an experience that is both visually captivating and profoundly calming.

With a career spanning more than three decades, Ekholm’s work has been celebrated in over 30 solo exhibitions and is held in prestigious international and Australian collections. Her art continues to inspire, offering serene spaces for reflection and connection.

In a way nature is always the starting point. It acts as a mirror on the soul; a reflex. In nature I find something that triggers a kind of personal state of mind. Working with fast-drying acrylic and water, I use a sponge to apply layer upon layer of shapes and gestures with solid pigment and transparent washes, while continually washing and rubbing sections away until the final complex image is built. I may work for days on a small isolated section of the painting. It is an obsessive and fastidious process and the work travels a complex journey of twists and turns before I have found the ‘solution’ which is that painting's final incarnation.
Agneta Ekholm - Artist Statement

'Ekholm’s surfaces unfold in layers, revealing a sense of interiority that oscillates between presence and absence, light and shadow. Deep, cavernous blues bleed into eggshell whites, punctuated by fleeting flashes of rich yellow, orange, or green – vibrant inclusions that charge her images with emotional intensity, creating momentary fissures in the otherwise calm transitions of tone. These compositions suggest a world beyond their frames, an expansiveness that extends into unseen dimensions. They hover at the threshold of recognition, tempting the viewer to read a semblance of landscape – perhaps the unfathomable depths of the ocean or the cosmic vastness of space. Such literal interpretations, while incomplete, do not confine or limit the work’s power but rather amplify its mystery, tethering it to something both tangible and ineffable.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Phe Luxford 2025

'Agneta Ekholm’s large canvases with their subtle, dissolving semi-transparent veils of colour, even on first encounter, are striking and unforgettable. They are deeply immersive paintings – refined, exquisite and restrained – works that operate on a non-verbal, contemplative level, more like painted music than a painted narrative.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Sasha Grishin 2023