About

 

With a rich portfolio that garnered local and international attention, Miriam Aschan has consistently demonstrated a unique and captivating artistic perspective. Miriam´s work crosses painting, collage and sculpture disciplines, creating bold graphic compositions. She consider her self a cubist -- her innovative approach to exploring the femal condition is rich in references to art history.

Miriam was raised in an artistic home with her father, Ulf Aschan, an artist who lives for art. He brought Miriam to the Louvre and other Paris museums when she was a child. The great modern master painters such as Matisse and Picasso became her teachers.

"My father´s studio space greatly influenced me -- the smell of oil paint, the skylight´s northern light, and a sense of infinity. I want to create a movement of form in the painting, like the idea of time. Past, present and future alternate and everything happens simultaneously."

Miriam has exhibited her art mainly in Stockholm, and in the south of Sweden, especially in the Småland region, together with great artists such as Bertil and Ulrika Hydman Vallien. The Spring Salon at Liljevalchs in 2023 was her latest exhibition. GSA Gallery has represented her graphic work. In 2022, Miriam made two large bronze sculptures at Herman Bergmans Fine Art Foundry; one is on display at Den Gyldene Freden in Stockholm, and the other in a private collection. She is currently working on an exciting collaboration together with Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory.

 

 

After her exam project Talking to Frank at Konstfack College of Art in Stockholm 2016, in which Miriam studied the pattern designs of Josef Frank, Miriam formed a collaboration with renowned Frank experts Kristina Wängberg-Eriksson* and her husband Jan, authors of the books Peppis flora (English title Josef Frank) and Josef Frank livsträd i krigets skugga. The creative exchange with the Wängberg-Eriksson pair set the Miriam brand in motion.

Together with the couple, Miriam created the pattern Då livet sjunger (When Life Sings) — a free interpretation of a small Japanese woodcut hanging on the wall in the Wängberg-Erikssons’ home. For inspiration, Miriam turned to Josef Frank but also to Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, two of those modernistic pioneers with whom she grew up.

“The pattern is a celebration of life,” says Miriam.

 Den blomstertid nu kommer (Time of blossom has arrived) is a variation on the same theme — a visual hymn to Swedish nature. The other main pattern in the premiere collection from Miriam is Urstark (A strength from deep within), a papercut collage inspired by Kai Nielsen’s sculpture Vandmoderen (The Water Mother) at the Glyptoteket Art Museum in Copenhagen.

 “Urstark is about standing up for your ideals and knowing your powerful inner self,” Miriam says. “I believe that we are all born with a primal strength and an inner compass deep inside us. The art of life is following that inner course”.

 

Miriam Aschan’s visual landscapes are characterized by both dreamy and powerful qualities and a color palette of strong contrasts. All products in her collection, from the serving trays to the cutting boards and coasters, are crafted in superior quality in Sweden from sustainable FSC-labeled Nordic wood.

*Kristina Wängberg-Eriksson, PhD, has been associated with Svenskt Tenn since 1985 for research on Josef Frank and his collaboration with Estrid Ericson. Together with her husband Jan she is the author of the books Peppis flora (Josef Frank, 1994), Josef Frank livsträd i krigets skugga(1998) and Josef Frank möbelformgivare(2014).