Anna Ling: Aftermath

Lunds konsthall is pleased to announce a retrospective exhibition with older, more recent as well as newly produced works by the Swedish artist Anna Ling. She was born in Gothenburg in 1971 and has now lived in Malmö for a number of years.

Ling’s works map environments that make up her own surroundings and that interest her for personal and political reasons. The earlier works often survey the relationship between humans, architecture, and nature, while the later works focus more on environmental issues and climate change. These urgent issues of contemporary life have increasingly conditioned Ling’s interest and her quest for applicable knowledge, predominantly within the marine sciences but also in related disciplines such as geology or meteorology.

Many of her works are preceded by field studies, and her working method may be compared to that of the scientist. She gathers material that she then studies, evaluates and uses in various contexts. This allows her to reach insights based on her own observations rather than second-hand information. Thanks to her close interest in nature, Ling was able to observe changes over time throughout the areas where she has been moving. She has noted a destructive development, caused by human intervention, but also active measures taken with the purpose to restore the natural order.

A characteristic feature of Ling’s oeuvre is the long series of works, executed in ink on paper where she records her observations of nature with infinite patience and great sensitivity. In later works, she utilises sculptural elements, as in the installation Reefs (2023), which takes as its starting point the death of coral reefs, caused by climate change. Ling’s unique ability to share her sensory experience of nature is visible in the large-scale work suite Abyssal (2023), which consists of photographs taken on a summer night where jellyfish under the sea surface appear as shining stars in the dark water.

As a part of the exhibition, we show the documentary Enclosed Moments (2012) by Jens Klevje & Fabian Svensson. The film is an observation of Limhamn’s limestone quarry, and we get to see nature’s ability to adapt in a landscape exploited by humans.

You are welcome to share Anna Ling’s world and thoughts at Lunds konsthall!