Artist talk: Karolina Kling

Karolina is an artist and designer currently based in Gothenburg. She has a background as a print designer within fashion, and is known for her distinct style which manifested throughout her art prints, interior objects and fashion items.

Please tell us a bit about yourself in general, so our audience can get to know you better.

I graduated from HDK (The University of Design in Gothenburg, Sweden) in 2006, and then moved to London and ran my own company for around 6 years. I did everything from Fashion collections (under the name Kling by Kling), made store windows installations, organised exhibitions with other designers in London and Tokyo, and worked as a freelance designer. So I dipped my toe and worked in a lot of different areas and that’s how I always loved to work – with my graphics and prints for everything from fashion to interiors.

Today I live in Gothenburg and work as a print designer and run my company A Kling Thing where I mostly work together with other people and companies, as that’s what I enjoy the most. To work by myself is not what’s driving me anymore, it’s the interaction with other people’s knowledge and ideas.

How would you describe your art, and what inspires you to create?

I think lots of people would describe it as graphic and bold. When I create prints for fashion that’s mostly the case, but when I make my paintings and fabrics under A Kling Thing, I would describe it as more dreamy and soft. I have trained to be able to make so many different styles during the years, but I often hear that you can see it right away when it’s me that has created a print.

How did the inspiration behind the exclusive collaboration with Postery look?

They all sprung out from texts that I wrote. I used to write a lot, but haven’t done so for many many years. So I wrote and created the paintings afterwards, and the images I got came from the novels. It was a new way of working for me and I really enjoyed it. The stories were from travels I have made to places I now really miss and tried to revisit through the stories.

How do you see your art evolving in the future, and how would you like your art to be perceived?

I would love to work with bigger interior projects and create wallpapers, fabrics and art for public spaces such as hotels and restaurants. And create more collaborations with inspiring labels and designers.

"When I think of my style throughout the years, it looked very much back then as it still does today. I can try to tweak it, but it still looks like me"

Does your art mirror your personality, and has art always been a part of your life?

I used to play classical piano and violin for many years and got into design in my 20s. And when I think of my style throughout the years, it looked very much back then as it still does today. I can try to tweak it, but it still looks like me – for good or for bad haha. So I guess it reflects me as a person, with lots of colours and quite bold.

Which materials/colours do you like to work with the most?

That’s hard! It really is everything from clay to acrylic on canvas to ink on paper, it depends on the project. What I wouldn’t do is print my own fabrics. Long story, but for one of my collections I had to print all the fabrics by myself, using these massive 1,5x1m frames (or bigger?). After that, I’m not going near a printing place.

Is there an anecdote related to your artwork that you can share with us?

As mentioned in an earlier question I made some of the pictures from places I used to visit. One of these places is in the south of France, called Hyères I and some friends used to go there every year and rent this gorgeous big house with a huge garden and palm trees you could look at when laying in the bathtub with open windows. There was a small island right outside called “The Golden Island” and I used to love walking around and swimming from the small beaches. The couple owning the house sold it some years ago and I haven’t been back there since.