Market Art Fair

Anja Fredell’s Translation of What It Feels Like to Be Alive

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Photo by Sebastian Waldenby. Courtesy of Galleri Hedenius and Anja Fredell

Galleri Hedenius presents a tactile exploration of emotion and perception through tufted textiles and pastel paintings at Market Art Fair 2025.

Swedish artist Anja Fredell explores what it means to feel alive, drawing from emotions and sensory perception rather than rational thought. Asking herself, ‘How does life feel, and can I express it?’, she seeks to capture the human experience from a deeply sensual perspective.

For Fredell, this is an inward process—one that turns toward the irrational and hidden rather than the external world. Working with textiles, ceramics, and painting, she transforms intangible experiences into physical forms. Her most significant works are tufted textile pieces, created with a gun-like machine that combines elements of a sewing machine and a drill, shooting yarn into stretched cloth.

  • Courtesy of Galleri Hedenius and Anja Fredell
  • Photo by Åke Ericsson. Courtesy of Galleri Hedenius and Anja Fredell

As she follows the outline of an underdrawing, the yarn on the reverse side is cut down, resulting in soft, three-dimensional, tactile pieces that resemble paintings. This technique demands intense, fast-paced, and physically demanding movements. The rhythm and temperament of the process become embedded in the finished works.

For Market Art Fair, Galleri Hedenius presents Fredell’s work on various scales, from monumental to smaller pieces, emphasising the sensuous and spatial qualities of her tufted textiles. Alongside these, the exhibition will feature pastel crayon paintings on paper—a newer direction in her practice. These works allow her to engage with pure colour without relying on materiality, leaving her feeling both exposed and captivated. While the textiles emphasise physicality and dimension, the paintings strip everything down to colour itself, revealing the underlying pictorial language that connects her work across mediums.

Together, these two approaches highlight Fredell’s evolving practice—one that is at once expansive, tactile, and deeply rooted in sensation.

  • Courtesy of Galleri Hedenius and Anja Fredell

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