On 23 May at 12:00, the participants in eXpression Design will launch the products they have been working on during the programme. We met Pernilla Tjänström and Emelie Almgren who are putting the finishing touches on the launch week.
Tell us about your company and your creativity:
Pernilla Tjärnström: My company is called Pernilla Tjärnström art and design. I create sculptures in wood. Animals and nature are my main source of inspiration. They are usually large insects with brightly coloured bodies. I reuse forged old nails for bones and other details. There is something special when two different materials meet.
Emelie Almgren: I've always enjoyed expressing myself creatively and creating with my hands. It's a joy to see something emerge that at first was just a picture in my head. During the pandemic I started to invest more in my instagram account auntemelie to have something to do with all the new free time the restrictions provided.
How would you describe your creative expression?
Pernilla Tjärnström: I want the viewer to stop, look and feel that there is something special. A different work of art to place on a wall. I like it when something that is small in reality can be made into something big, like when a small spider becomes really big!
Emelie Almgren: I draw inspiration from nature and the playful. My expressions can range from creating with my nieces and nephews to sewing, embroidering, planning and executing a theme party or weaving barbs.
Can you give any clues as to what we'll see from you at the launch on May 23?
Pernilla Tjärnström: Yes, I have kept to the natural theme and to my beloved material; wood. But it's not at all like anything I've done before.
Emelie Almgren: If I were to wrap the product, it would be a soft package that takes the mind out into nature and the valley, but finds a place inside the modern home.
How would you describe the process of your product?
Pernilla Tjärnström: I have had several different ideas but finally decided on this one. It has a more sculptural expression than the other ideas, it reflects more my artistic expression. It can also be made more personal if the client wants it and I like that.
Emelie Almgren: It has been a journey back into my own heritage. It's been up and down, I've come close to giving up hope of completing the product by launch but the will and vision has spurred me on to think new, different or go back to the original idea. It has felt safe to have the other participants and Johanna and Maria from eXpression design on the journey with me.
What do you hope to convey with the product?
Pernilla Tjärnström: I hope it will convey that it is a unique craft, a different detail.
Emelie Almgren: Nature's calm and playful expression, that it should move into our homes and into our everyday lives. I also want to pass on a piece of local women's history.
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Cover photo: Bea Holmberg (Emelie on the left and Pernilla on the right).
Join us for the launch of all products from the eXpression Design business development programme on 23 May.
