EDWIN BJURLING

Born 2001

"Charcoal is the drawing tool with the most painterly qualities. It has a freedom and a clumsiness that is easily lost with other materials. Charcoal wears down quickly, becomes pigment, and can be rubbed out. It’s like oil in spirit, and is a natural part of my working process. At the same time, it’s taken over and led my painting to increasingly resemble drawing. Small dots and light strokes suggest different objects and subjects. In the search for composition, a form emerges and the role is assigned to a rug, a curtain or a plant. A piano, a house or a window. Often with nothing more than a negative space framed between the black of the charcoal and a few solitary lines that describe the rest."

Currently studying for a bachelor’s degree, Umeå Academy of Fine Arts

Photos: Hanna Lidberg

EDWIN BJURLING

Edwin Bjurling participates in the scholarship competition and exhibition with five drawings created 2025–2026.

Charcoal on paper. Oil color on canvas.

1. From the inside of Professor Bergianus’ greenhouse
2. Piano and delicate drapery
3. Frateretto is tormenting the pianist with visions
4. Field
5. Garden house filled with lemons

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THE SELECTION COMMITTEE'S MOTIVATION:
What Edwin Bjurling does not draw says just as much about volume, material and light as what he actually draws. His works depict a world that is tranquil and at rest. With a dynamic interplay between surfaces and lines, and with traces of charcoal dots in between, he creates melancholy images as a promise of a gentler world. This is drawing as a form of meditation for the viewer.

From the inside of Professor Bergianus’ greenhouse
Charcoal on paper, 2025. Original size 26x21cm
Piano and delicate drapery
Charcoal on paper, 2026. Original size 21x26cm
Frateretto is tormenting the pianist with visions
Charcoal on paper, 2026. Original size 21x26cm
Field
Charcoal on paper, 2025. Original size 26x21cm
Garden house filled with lemons
Oil color on canvas, 2025. Original size 33x24cm