mikael kihlman (sweden)

1. tell us about your everyday environment,
your hobbies and lifestyle

2. what do you see as the point of your works?

3. tell us your thoughts on the problems printmaking is facing today ? what might they be and where's the solution?

4. do you use computers in your work,
and if so, how do they help you and what do you think of them?

5. what do you think are the best and worst sides of print art?

6. what does printmaking give and mean to you?

7. where did you get the idea from to take part
in the tallinn print triennial?

8. your favourite artists?

1. i live in the city of stockholm with my wife (a tv news journalist). i have 3 children: a son of 25 who lives by himself, a stepdaughter of 18 and a 12 year old daughter, plus we have a dog (beagle). the house i live in is a big house with a garden that i work on a lot, i suppose you could say it is my hobby. my studio is in the house. i work every day with my art and i print in a workshop on the other side of the city. i travel a lot with exhibitions in sweden and abroad. i do around 6-8 solo-shows a year and about 10-20 groupshows. i enjoy reading and listening to music, who doesn't?

2. i am investigating the human questions; who am i?, what is the purpose of all this? what is life? etc. i have no answers but i'm trying to formulate my question. maybe my efforts can inspire others as much as i get inspired by all the people i meet.

3. there are always problems with everything, and i try not to focus too much on problems. but since you are asking, i could say that my problem is that it takes such a long time to do my works and that they are so heavy to print. i can in no way compete with the modern fast techniques that a modern, efficient, acquisitive society requires. but still i can see no shortcuts in making my kind of work, since to me there is nothing like a copperplate, a good drypoint-needle, a good printmaker and it has to take the time it takes. the solution for me is just to go on printing as long as i am able to.

4. i use computers in all my correspondence, communicating with people, and in this way it is a wonderful tool. it also keeps me in touch with what other people in all parts of the world are doing. it is like an open window on the world from the little studio where i live.

5. i simply like good printmaking where i feel a great artist with a profound knowledge of printmaking combining artistic skill with artistic intuition. such a print from such an artist moves me deeply, and then the mode of expression can be very individual. the worst thing is simply a bad print by a bad artist.

6. since it is my life, it just means a lot to me.

7. i have had an ambition for the last 10 years to apply for all the bigger
biennales / triennales in the world and the last time the tallinn-triennial belonged to them, so i applied. (my ambition has sometimes been frustrated since there are quite a few around, so i sometimes miss them.)

8. there are many, but to name a few; rembrandt, jiri anderle, christine ravaux (belgium), axel fridell (swedish graphic-artist (drypoint) at the beginning of the
20th century), tom krestesen (sweden)......