Look at me – listen to me!
Click on the images for information about
the paintings
One theme that recurs in several of Tomas
Niklasson’s arts of work is the importance of being seen as
a human being, as something more than just a  diagnosis,
and to point out the similarities between mentally "well"
and "ill" individuals. This is the most essential message
the artist wants to convey. By creating interesting pictures he
wishes to make visible a group of people that is otherwise often
invisible in society. The work "Psykiatri/patient" consists
of three parts: a cast of a representative from psychiatry, a heart
in a jar, and a mirror in between, which reflects words from the
plaster head. With this work the artist wants to say that the psychiatrist
should not only see the patient’s symptoms as a mirror of the
psychiatrist’s own theories, but he should listen more to the
patient’s own story about her thoughts and feelings.
Those people with psychological difficulties
that Tomas Niklasson got to know in the project "Bergtagen"
("Enchanted") have greatly enjoyed and appreciated his
interest in them. This is certified in the exhibition catalogue
by Dag Andersson who is head of the psychosis team "Aston Villa"
in Stenungsund, Sweden. The project has been rewarding also for
Tomas Niklasson himself, in a human as well as an artistic way.
The joy of life and the courage of the people he has come in contact
with have made him humble; at the same time it has added a great
seriousness to his paintings.
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At first I found the task difficult, like climbing a mountain. I
had taken a great responsibility and I wondered what I had embarked
upon. How would I get into contact with these people? But it was
much easier than I thought; I was even invited to the homes of several
of them. Some of them were also social and easy to contact while
others were more introvert, says Tomas Niklasson. It was however
also a hard project, and to digest his impressions, Tomas Niklasson
has kept a diary throughout the whole project.
Tomas Niklasson felt that he needed - in
order to be able to communicate his message more efficiently and
reach out directly to the general public - to develop his artistic
techniques and learn to paint in layers, just like, among others,
Rembrandt did. The project "Bergtagen" ("Enchanted")
is a kind of social and political art, which has an address, a fact
that makes Tomas Niklasson happy since this art form has not been
very "in" in the last few decades.
Most of the patients that Tomas Niklasson
met during this project have seen  the
exhibition. Their reactions have been mixed – many of them
were positive but some of them did not always understand the pictures.
The ex-prisoner from the Balkans thought that the paintings "Övergrepp"
("Assault") and "Måltiden" ("The
Meal") depicted his experiences well. Tomas Niklasson was however
careful not to reproduce any of the patients in a way that could
reveal their identities. Instead he often used himself as a model.
The only exception is the documentary "Filmen om Dan"
("The movie about Dan").
- This film was the most difficult work when
it comes to integrity. Dan was of age and wanted to react out to
the public with his story, but his family knew nothing about the
movie in advance. They were however satisfied when they saw the
movie, says Tomas Niklasson. The project "Bergtagen" ("Enchanted")
is still after five years a source of inspiration for Tomas Niklasson,
so maybe we will see a continuation.
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