“I’m the painter who swapped the facade brush for an artist’s brush.”
A Journey from Craft to Canvas
Amie Norrman Söderman’s journey into the art world began with a love for drawing and painting that dates back to her childhood. Even as a young girl, she aspired to work with iconic figures like Walt Disney, dreaming of bringing her sketches to life on the grand stage of animation. Though just ten years old at the time, her imagination was already filled with creative ambition. Over the years, she refined her skills, transforming her initial fascination with art into a lifelong calling. It was only later in her career that she transitioned from painting ceilings and walls to creating intricate artworks on canvas and through sculpture, a shift that profoundly expanded her creative horizons.
Today, Amie’s creations are an expression of her inner world, where feelings and thoughts find their way into form. Working with oils, acrylics, and watercolors, she brings a personal touch to each piece, embedding emotions and stories in every brushstroke. Her works have found homes in collections across China, the USA, and Europe, a testament to their universal appeal. Amie’s unique journey as “the painter who swapped the facade brush for an artist’s brush” reflects both her creative evolution and the dedication she brings to her practice.
Each of her pieces is infused with elements of surprise; Amie cherishes the idea that viewers might find something new every time they look at one of her works. Inspired by nature, dreams, and her personal fantasies, she explores various ideas and materials, blending them to produce artwork that speaks to the ever-changing nature of life itself. Her favorite color, blue, is a recurring theme, saturating her compositions with calmness and depth and symbolizing her connection to the sky, the ocean, and emotions themselves.
Amie Norrman Söderman: The Lure of Poetic Abstraction
Amie’s art is characterized by a deeply evocative abstraction that combines serenity with complexity, inviting viewers to linger and interpret. Her choice of colors and textures creates a unique language, expressing moods and atmospheres that speak to viewers on a deeply intuitive level. This distinct style emerged from a moment of artistic inspiration during her time in Tokyo in the mid-1990s, when she attended an exhibition by Hiroshi Senju. The experience stayed with her, sparking a dream of someday holding her own solo exhibition, which she realized two decades later in Stockholm.
In her work, Amie often plays with subtle, layered textures that form the foundation of her atmospheric backgrounds. Her compositions suggest vast landscapes, ethereal scenes, or towering structures that seem to float between reality and dream. This interplay of form and formlessness is a defining feature of her work, blending ambiguity with familiarity, as though the viewer is peering into a distant memory or a landscape remembered from a dream. In these abstract scenes, she captures something both mysterious and recognizably human, inviting introspection and wonder.
One of the most striking aspects of her work is her use of blue, which she employs to conjure imagery of underwater or celestial spaces. Her restrained color palette, dominated by blue tones, encourages viewers to explore themes of depth and the subconscious. In some pieces, towering shapes emerge subtly from layered color, suggesting cities, horizons, or even mythical towers. These compositions evoke not only the physical landscape but also the landscapes of the mind, with their ever-shifting layers of perception and memory.
A Golden Glimmer of Light and Spirit
Amie often incorporates gold leaf or metallic accents in her artwork, an element that adds warmth and a tangible quality to her abstract forms. These hints of gold break through the darker hues, hinting at a light source that feels both natural and mystical. The effect is one of illumination, as though viewers are catching glimpses of sunlight through clouds or witnessing a spark of inner energy within the depths of the painting. This infusion of gold not only draws the eye but also imbues each piece with a sense of the spiritual, evoking ideas of light in darkness, warmth amidst cold, and hope emerging from the shadows.
In her circular compositions, Amie explores ideas of creation, introspection, and even cosmic wonder. These vortex-like forms invite viewers to journey inward, exploring layers of meaning within the art. The interplay of light and dark, coupled with gold accents, creates an almost celestial quality, reminiscent of cosmic bodies or the origins of life itself. These pieces resonate with a sense of timelessness, connecting viewers to universal themes of existence, birth, and transformation.
Amie’s work also includes looser, more expressionistic pieces where broad brushstrokes and textured layers convey a rhythmic sense of movement. These works, with their free-flowing energy, capture impressions of urban landscapes or abstract visions, rendered in minimalist yet impactful gestures. Her use of dynamic, gestural brushstrokes contrasts with the quiet sophistication of her more layered pieces, showcasing her versatility and range as an artist. This diversity within her body of work speaks to her ability to move fluidly between styles, capturing both structured stillness and unbridled movement.
Amie Norrman Söderman: The Power of Dreams and the Ocean’s Depth
Amie’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in her love for abstraction and her desire to express emotions inspired by dreams, travel, and the ocean. Her affinity for blue speaks to a spiritual connection with the elements, with the color representing both the expansive skies and the depths of the sea. This connection informs her process, which she approaches with a sense of immersion, often accompanied by music that resonates with her emotional state. By channeling her feelings through music, she creates artworks that convey a raw, unfiltered depth, allowing each piece to serve as a mirror of her inner world.
The act of creation for Amie is one of experimentation, where she uses brushes, knives, and even her hands to shape her vision on the canvas. Her tactile approach to art allows her to blend different materials, adding layers of texture and meaning. When working with sculptures, she utilizes Paverpol to create durable yet delicate forms, often incorporating recycled materials that add history and personality to each piece. These mixed-media creations reflect her philosophy of reimagining the past to build something new, blending memories and materials to create a sense of continuity within her art.
Among her many pieces, one holds particular significance—a painting created in 1994 during her pregnancy with her first child. This work encapsulates a profound moment in her life, symbolizing love and the beginnings of a new journey. Amie’s ambition remains undiminished; she dreams of one day returning to Tokyo for a major solo exhibition. Her art, blending the intensity of dreams, the tranquility of the ocean, and the energy of vibrant landscapes, captures universal emotions that resonate deeply, revealing Amie as an artist committed to exploring and sharing the beauty of the unseen.
