Tusen år i Småland, X (Ydre härad) (Thousand Years in Småland, X [Ydre härad])

Böttcher originally began drawing fir trees and spruces whilst still a student at Konstfack (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) in Stockholm between 1998 and 2001. This was touched upon in connection with her exhibition at Malmö Konsthall in 2021 – 2022:

In Böttcher’s detailed pencil drawings, nature is allowed to grow, slowly, on the surface of the paper. The effort, concentration, and time that is put into depicting the motif seem encapsulated into the drawing itself. Böttcher first rose to fame in the early 2000s thanks to her fascinating portraits of trees – often spruces – over a white backdrop. These pencil drawings were created as a sort of pauses while she was a student at Konstfack in Stockholm – pauses from the art. They became a way of trying to return, mentally, to the forests of her childhood; another way of achieving the mental state of being in nature. Ann Böttcher grew up in Bruzaholm in the north of Småland.

Böttcher, herself, gave the following background, when interviewed in the magazine Konstperspektiv:

-I grew up in a forest landscape, and already during my education I started drawing nature, mostly as part of a meditative process. For humans, the forest has often been something that has been used, either as a symbol or as a basic commodity. But one must be aware that the artist, in this case myself, also uses nature.

Böttcher explores various aspects of the fir, or spruce, where the tree can act as a national symbol, a fairytale attribute, a Christmas tree, a symbol of Aryanism, an object of hatred or a health donor. Böttcher has, continuously and repeatedly, studied the fir, or spruce, from various cultural-historical vantage points. She has drawn, researched, read, taken notes and cut out various source material in order to chronicle the history of the tree. With the fir, or spruce, acting as a catalyst, a steady stream of stories, values and traditions are brought to life, highlighted and questioned in her production.

The title of the present work, Thousand Years in Småland, X (Ydre hundred), appears cryptic and mysterious. What could be said, however, is that Ydre härad was a so-called “hundred” (an administrative district) in the county of Östergötland. The district corresponds to the current Ydre municipality (named after the district). The area historically measured 781 square kilometers, with a population (in 1920) of 7,464 people and covered an area between Lake Sommen and the border with northern Småland. Ydre is recorded, as far back as, in 1279 and the name probably derives from the old Swedish word “ydher”, which means “yew”. The name would then mean “the area where yew grows”, which makes perfect sense when you look at Böttcher’s drawing.

Provenance
Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm.
Firestorm Foundation.

Exhibitions
Liljevalchs konsthall (Liljevalchs Public Art Gallery), Stockholm, Market Art Fair, 17 – 19 May 2024.

Copyright Firestorm Foundation