Create at home – ”The incredible reality”

What do you see through your window? A street full of life, a dove sitting in a tree or maybe a part of the sky? The artist Siri Derkert said this about what she saw around her, what she called “the incredible reality”:

“I look out my window. A pale yellow birch – black branches, a gray-green pine – the sun is low – long shadows over the lawn – some shimmering magpies swing down – up again in the trees. Small birds fly back and forth, bright clear blue or pink spots against the background. I turn into the room – a girl doing her homework – sun streaks – dim light – a bright green window – or I go out on the road. Everywhere life itself. And so the experience in ourselves – of it.”

If you, as the artist Siri Derkert, were to look back into the room, what would you see then? A sibling, an unmade bed or something completely different?

Look around and let what is close to you be a motif in your image of reality, or “the incredible reality” as the artist Siri Derkert said. Like her friend, the artist Vera Nilsson, she was inspired by everyday life when she painted. An everyday life that was full of children, things to fix at home, play, rest and art!

The colours are sometimes unexpected and the contours a bit skewed in both Siri Derkert’s and Vera Nilsson’s paintings. They painted reality as it felt, rather than as it looked. This task; “The incredible reality” allows you to create images from your own everyday life. It can be a picture from memory or something you see here and now.

Use the material you have at home! Pens, watercolor, crayons or…

Psst! … If you want, feel free to take a picture of your own paintings and drawings and post on Instagram or Facebook! Tag with #modernamuseetmalmö

Good luck!