"Dockan"
pen on paper
a sketch of a doll
The Shell
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"The Shell" illustration for "The Shell" by Syrian author Mustafa Khalifa.
The text has been translated from arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette and it has also been translated into chinese, by Francis Li Zhuoxiong. The bio-text from Asymptote explains in a very fine way who Khalifa is, and what the text is about:
"Mustafa Khalifa (b.1948) is a Syrian author who was imprisoned for more than twelve years by the Syrian regime for his political activities as a member of the leftist opposition to the regime of Hafez al-Assad. From 1982-1994, Khalifa was held without trial at various state security prisons, including the infamous Tadmur Military Prison, a detention center described as a "kingdom of death and madness" by poet Faraj Bayraqdar and the "absolute prison" by dissident Yassin al-Haj Salih. He is the author of The Shell, which has been lauded as one of the finest examples of Arabic prison literature, and which has been translated into French as La Coquille. He currently lives in exile, where he continues to write against the al-Assad regime."
Read the full text here.
Zugzwang
illustration for the short story "Transglottism" from the book "Zugzwang", by Eduard Màrquez. Translated from Catalan by Lawrence Venuti.
Transglottism was the first illustration I started working on for Asymptote, in november last year. The story takes place in a stuffy library auditorium, where a student and the simultaneous interpreter, in the middle of the boredom starts and amorous affair, through the air and the airphones. It's a resourceful and amusing story and on the site there's also another beautiful short story by Eduard Màrquez, which I recommend you all to read.
Read the full story here.
Until a Hurricane Sweeps Through
"Until a Hurricane Sweeps Through",
ink and digital
illustration for Until a Hurricane Sweeps Through, by Margarita García Robayo, on Asymptote. Translated by Maureen Shaughnessy.
Here's a excerpt from the story:
"My first flight was to Miami. It was the busiest international route in the city, and also the most sought after: I competed and I won. I wanted to go to Miami because buying things is cheap and the weather is warm and because the men aren't gringos. Young flight attendants don't like gringos because they don't know how to fuck; the older ones do, but they don't fuck anymore.
Have you been to Miami? I asked Julian. He said he had, but I could tell he was lying. Julian was watching TV in my living room, a boxing match was on. My brother was in the shower because they were going to a party. My mom was on the phone with my grandma, some relative's cousin had died. My dad had gone out to pay some traffic fines."
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From Taiwan to the World and Back
"From Taiwan to the World and Back" ink, watercolor, digital
Illustration for "From Taiwan to the World and Back" by Fu-chen Lo and Jou-chin Chen, translated by Lee Yew Leong.
Two texts circulating around the "228 Incident", an uprising in Taiwan in 1947. Here's an extract from the second text:
"When the tragic and senseless 228 Incident occurred, I was still very much a child. Trauma was in the air; I knew that something had happened, but I didn't understand what exactly. But an episode about two years later awakened me to it fully. I was fourteen years old, in my second year of junior high, when I had a gun pointed at me by a military officer who then escorted me to a police station, where I was detained overnight..."
Read the full story here.
The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses
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"The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses"
ink and digital
2013-2014
Illustration for "The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses" by german author Philipp Schönthaler.
An excerpt from the translator Amanda DeMarco's note:
"The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses" comes from the 2012 collection of stories, Life Opens Upward, which explores the psyches of high-performance athletes. Schönthaler's 2013 debut novel similarly examines the pressures associated with pursuing a career in our high-performance society. Whether it's the stress of athletics or professional achievement, the formal question—what happens when people try to 'optimize' themselves?—underlies the specific human dramas that unfold in these two books....."
Read the full story here
Farthest from Death
"Farthest from Death" ink and digital, 2013-2014
illustration for "Farthest from Death" by Elina Hirvonen
Read the full story here
Poetics of Wonder: Passage to Mogador
"Poetics of Wonder: Passage to Mogador"
ink and digital 2013-2014
Runner-up of the 2014 Close Approximations contest for emerging translators (Fiction) This story is written by the mexican author Alberto Ruy-Sánchez. It's a bit mysterious, a little erotic and a piece of beautiful literature. Saffron is a essential metaphor in the text, that's the reason I included the flower in the illustration. The text is also a lot about Morocco, and I've been very inspired by morrocan mosaic.
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Footprints
"Footprints", ink, acrylic and digital 2013-2014
Illustration for "Footprints" by japanese author Hideo Furukawa.
Read the full text here: http://www.asymptotejournal.com/article.php?cat=Fiction&id=60&curr_index=6&curPage=current
Man and Bronze Statue
Illustration for the play "Man and Bronze Statue" by the singaporean poet, novelist, playwright and critic Yeng Pway Ngon,
This play was really fun to read and it gave me many inner images. During the time I was working on the image I was looking a lot at different Surrealistic artist and in some way the images I looked at connected with the text. The play contains a big dose of absurdistic humour and a social critique somewhat reminiscent of Samuel Beckett. There's even a nod to "Waiting for Godot" in the dialogue between the Statue and the Man:
"STATUE: Of course I've come. Who do you think I am, Godot?
MAN: Who's Godot? Is he another bronze statue?
STATUE: He might be. He might not be. He's someone who says he'll come and then doesn't. - "
Read the play here.
I Make Mistakes
"I Make Mistakes", ink and digital 2013-2014
Illustration for "I Make Mistakes" by Tanja Šljivar, Winner of the 2014 Close Approximations contest for emerging translators (Fiction)
In this image I wanted to create the perception of two "worlds", or dimensions in the same image. I believe the text is about looking back to a time long passed and the atmosphere is nostalgic and the structure of the text is also a bit impressionistic. So I added the corridor and the table with the books and wineglass as a symbol for a portal to another time. My advice is though to read the text, my summary can not give this beautiful short story full justice.
Read the short story here.
Asymptote
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| Ink, watercolor, digital, 2013. Cover image for Asymptotes third anniversary issue. |
You can already check out the illustrations on the journals page and I will upload them here on the blog in the following weeks.
Asymptote.com
The Expedition to the Baobab Tree
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"The Expedition to the Baobab Tree", ink and digital, 2013-2014
Illustration for "The Expedition to the Baobab Tree" byWilma Stockenström, translated by J. M. Coetzee, on Asymptote. This excerpt is from a novel from 1987, that will be re-published in april this year.
From the publisher, Archipelago books: "In J.M.Coetzee’s stunning translation: a powerfully symbolic story in the voice of a slave that explores the depths of imagination, isolation, fear, and love. A slave woman is the only survivor of a failed expedition into the depths of Southern Africa. She shelters in the hollow trunk of a baobab tree where she relives her earlier existence in a state of increasing isolation. We are the sole witnesses to her moving history: her capture as a young child, her life in a harbor city on the eastern coast as servant to various masters, her journey with her last owner and protector, and her life in the baobab tree."
Read the full text here
The Labour of Life
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"The Labour of Life" ink and digital, 2013
illustration for "The Labour of Life" by israeli author Hanoch Levin, translated by Atar Hadari, on Asymptote. A dark, tragic but at the same time humouristic play about the relationship between Marge and Jonah. It was challenging to illustrate this one without having a single human being in the image, but I think this emptiness evoke the mood in text.
Read the play here
Serpent city
"Serpent city"
ink on paper
47,5 x 22 cm
2013
Original scan-version
detail
detail
detail
detail
the sketch
Bengt Axelssons stipendium
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| Jag och Bengt Åkerblom på utdelningen på bokmässescenen! |
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Idag (1/11-13) tilldelades jag årets Bengt Axelssons stipendium för värmländsk kultur. Stipendiumet utdelades på den Värmländska bokmässan som i år är på Karlstad CCC, precis vid Klarälven! Stort tack till juryn som valde mig och till alla som kom och tittade idag! |
Prints Tall
I got a suggestion from one of my followers and friends to make prints of my painting "Tall", which I though was a great idea! So, now there are prints of the painting available to order from me! Here is the full painting
Size: 35x28 cm
prize: 200 sek + postage
email me at engstrom.leif[at]gmail.com,
or comment on this blogpost!
about the cover Tiden är kort in Orkesterjournalen
A spread in the latest issue of Orkesterjournalen, about my cover for Gilbert Holmströms new album Tiden är kort. In the text I tell a little about how I got the commission, how I made the painting, how the collaboration with the record label went on and so forth.
In the same issue there is also a big interview with Gilbert and a review of the album!
The whole text can be read, in swedish, here:
"OJ:s illustratör Leif Engström fick uppdraget att göra omslagsbilden till Gilbert Holmströms nya platta Tiden är kort!. Här berättar han om arbetet med målningen:
"Jonas Kullhammar (på skivbolaget Moserobie) hörde av sig till mig i vintras och undrade om jag skulle kunna göra en målning till en platta som skulle släppas senare samma år. Motivet skulle vara en bild av ett paradis, ett grönskande och vackert landskap med många djur, exotiska, färgglada blommor och träd och gärna några blånande snöklädda höjder i fjärran. Jag hade haft kontakt med Jonas tidigare och jag nappade på att göra uppdraget.
I iden ingick även att bandmedlemmarna skulle vara med, så jag fick tänka med ett utrymme i bilden där ett foto av dem skulle kunna klistras in. Så jag började skissa, letade upp bilder på djur och växter som jag tecknade av och la in allt i en skiss som jag gjorde i datorn, som jag sedan skickade till Jonas för granskning. Skissen fick okej och jag började föra över den skiss jag gjort till duken som den färdiga målningen slutligen skulle målas på. Målningen är målad i olja på duk och i ett för mig lite ovanligt avlångt format, eftersom bilden skulle passa in på ett tresidigt cd-konvolut. Jag köpte några mycket smala penslar för att kunna få till de riktigt petiga detaljerna. Målningen är företrädesvis målad med oljefärg som går att lösa i vatten (vilket är en otrolig fördel då det inte alls luktar lika mycket och man slipper de farliga ångorna från andra lösningsmedel), med undantag av en tub med ultramarin som jag fick lösa i terpentin de gånger jag behövde använda den i utspädd form.
Eftersom bilden på konvolutet skulle vara uppdelad på 3 sidor fick jag tänka till för att få varje sidas bild att bli en intressant och vacker komposition samt att tänka på att placera viktiga saker i bilden så att de inte hamnade i skarven mellan sidorna. Text skulle även placeras i mittendelen av bilden och därför valde jag att lämna den biten av gräsmattan ganska så tom och lugn. Delarna satte jag sedan ihop i datorn, för att få tillräckligt bra upplösning- och skickade iväg den till skivbolaget. Den grafiska formgivaren Stina Moritz har sedan lagt till fotot på bandmedlemmarna (i vinterkläder), titeltexten, låtlista, med mera. Det har varit ett roligt och annorlunda projekt för mig, och slutresultatet blev ett i mitt tycke lyckat omslag till en fin samling låtar" "
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