Carl Martinsson, b 1991, works as a carpenter, furniture designer and artist. His intarsia in wood impresses with wayward gestures and beautiful compositions. Motifs and details wander through the works. Lines, fields and outlines appear as representational motifs and abstract landscapes, in brilliant image constructions. It feels spontaneous, sophisticated and original.
Martinsson has the kind of awe-inspiring talent necessary to transform simple pieces of wood into art. The ancient practice of woodworking, fueled by Martinsson's ingenuity, cleverly transforms this natural material into items of both use and beauty. We are captivated by his craftsmanship and artistic prowess, and we aim to uplift and highlight Martinsson's extraordinary wood art by presenting him with the FLD Art Award 2024.
Q: Tell us a bit about your background?
A: Born and raised on lake island Ekerö southwest of Stockholm. Moved down to Gothenburg in 2012 and got into design through literature and graphic design but during my bachelor's degree at HDK, I started to focus on furniture and spatial design.
After HDK (The School of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg), I have run my own business and cruised my way along a crooked path between interior design, carpentry and art, but since a year ago I have had the opportunity to work almost exclusively with intarsia.
After the summer, I will start the master's program at Konstfack in spatial design.
Q: How come you started with Intarsia Woodworking?
A: It was actually a pure coincidence. Although in retrospect you can see a fairly clear common thread. I was working on an interior design project where we needed new doors for an arrow board and the people I worked with had veneers I could have and they wanted it to be doors with marquetry on them. It was the spring of 2023 and since then I have been stuck.
Q: Do you have any idols or role models in the field of woodworking?
A: It's hard to work with intarsia in Sweden and not being fascinated and inspired by Tomas Tempte, but I’m still waiting to have the time to really go into his work. But otherwise I’m more inspired by painters like Helene Frankenthaler, Stevie Dixx, Miró and Matisse. And for the moment I would really like to express the dreamy, on the edge to nightmare feeling of painters like Philip Guston, Ellen Macke Alström and Jeff Olsson.
Q: How would the ultimate work situation look for you?
A: I have two small kids so the only thing I dream of is to have more coherent time. I would also love having an organized workshop made for working with intarsia.
Q: Do you have a dream project?
A: As I am fairly new to working with intarsia, I am still discovering and learning the technique. This makes almost any project fun and inspiring.
Q: What’s your next project?
A: I'm making a ballot box for Västra Götalandsregionen regional council.
“We are captivated by his craftsmanship and artistic prowess, and we aim to uplift and highlight Martinsson’s extraordinary wood art by presenting him with the FLD Art Award 2024.”
The jury: Elisabeth Dunker, founder and Creative Director.
Ulrika E. Engberg, founder and CEO.
