Body, Movement, and Space: A Dialogue Through the Works of Philip Dufva, Salad Hilowle, and Dina Isæus-Daggfeldt

In the tradition of abstract painting, Dina Isæus-Daggfeldt places the gesture at the centre of her practice. With refined technical skill and a seemingly light touch, she creates gestural and powerful paintings. Over the years, a more detailed expression has emerged alongside her larger brushstrokes and dynamic gestures. Designs, stylized clouds, and waves now appear in her paintings, contrasting with the energetic and free-flowing expressions.

The contrast between large, dynamic brushstrokes and intricate, detailed patterns creates a sense of fluctuating time, reflecting both the inner journey and the external world. Through her paintings, Isæus-Daggfeldt invites us to contemplate movement not just in terms of physicality, but also in relation to emotional and temporal dimensions.

Philip Dufva’s sculptures, installations, and drawings are deeply connected to architecture, particularly modernist urban landscapes. Using concrete and steel — materials that echo the hard elements of the built environment — Dufva’s work is deeply influenced by the revolutionary building techniques of Le Corbusier, who transformed reinforced concrete into a symbol of modernity.

Dufva’s work interrogates the spaces we inhabit and their inherent relationship to power and control. His sculptures explore the intimate, often overlooked spaces within architecture, where the individual body interacts with its surroundings. Dufva’s work asks us to reconsider the neglected cracks and “in-betweens” of our built environment, offering a reflection on both societal neglect and the potential for connection within these overlooked spaces. His works exist just beneath the threshold of architecture, probing the limits of architectural rationality and the individual body’s profound sense of alienation and detachment.

Together, the works of Hilowle, Isæus-Daggfeldt, and Dufva offer a rich and layered dialogue on body, movement, and space. Each artist’s approach provides a new lens through which to explore how we occupy, move through, and relate to the world around us.