Viktor Hammarberg on parody and his provocative paintings with SZA, Rosalia and Peggy Gou

The provocative-meets-nostalgic paintings he used to be developing used to be starting to get spotted. “I feel that I use that word, nostalgia, too much when talking about my work, but it’s such a strong, emotional thing for me,” he explains. “I just love nostalgia. A lot of people can find it overwhelming and I understand that. It can be quite intense, because it’s that kind of longing for youth or longing for better times.”

Hammarberg provides that, as a result of he grew up elsewhere, together with Sweden, China and Singapore, every a part of his early life is tinged with other facets of that ‘nostalgic’ feeling that he enjoys.

“I also use a lot of parody in my work, taking existing concepts and flipping them on their head,” the clothier provides. “That can also be nostalgic, because you’re taking something that people are familiar with, like a memory, and you’re turning it into something new. That automatically creates an emotional connection. So yeah, I would say, nostalgia, parody and provocativeness, because I love thinking about the meaning of life and religion and drugs and sex and all that stuff. I find it very interesting.”

Throughout Hammarberg’s paintings, you’ll additionally incessantly see a Nike brand or the McDonald’s arches, even the Hollywood signal. He describes this as “literal” and “not subtle,” which he believes may put some manufacturers off participating with him.

Musicians had been attracted to his aesthetic. In truth, 3 months after taking a plunge and going freelance, Spanish singer Rosalia were given involved with the younger ingenious. Hammarberg admits that he hadn’t heard of her ahead of that time, however after testing her socials and figuring out what an enormous famous person she used to be, he used to be “in awe”.

Her crew got here to Hammarberg with an inventive transient however leaned on him closely for affect and his curated taste, which led to him developing the visuals and album paintings for Rosalia’s Motomami album.

The clothier explains that step one he generally takes is taking note of the tune. From there, Hammarberg will open a sketchbook or a clean Photoshop record to start out experimenting visually. The quantity of visible reference subject material from the musicians varies very much: every so often he’s given round 100 pictures to flick through; different occasions, the customer narrows it right down to only some key choices, or there could also be no pictures supplied in any respect.

In 2022, Hammarberg received a Grammy within the Best Recording Package class for his paintings on Rosalia’s album. “We had a group chat from the Motomami project and hearing that I was nominated, that was already such a huge victory for me,” he says, including that once the consequences got here via, he aroused from sleep to such a lot of messages and couldn’t imagine it. “It’s a funny thing because, when it happens, it feels so surreal. And all the insecurities and anxieties you’ve been carrying, you can discard those, because you have this to fall back on, but then a few weeks go by and it just becomes normal, so it’s weird. But I do pinch myself and remind myself I’m so proud and so grateful and so thankful.”

Putting such a lot of his middle and soul into designs does come at a price for Hammarberg. He stocks that once he first began his Instagram account, he would submit new paintings maximum days. Now, he’s going to submit tales each and every so incessantly, however even that may be moderately few and a long way between. He’s thankful to his neighborhood on there, however can’t lend a hand feeling force from it.

“For me, personally, no matter how I twist it, I will always put a value to my work based on the response that I get on social media,” he stocks. “There was a point that if I got less than 1,000 likes, I would be like, ‘OK, why do people hate what I do?’ Those kind of unhealthy mind traps. I love social media, but it is so, so much like a drug.”

Like many of us, Hammarberg additionally offers with imposter syndrome, even with all of his successes. “I got 10,000 followers and thought I’ll never have to feel insecure again. I got a Grammy and thought I never had to feel insecure again. I worked with SZA and thought I never had to feel insecure again. But those things only last for days or weeks, then you’re back to where you are.”

He reckons that it’s an “essential” a part of being an inventive particular person, your paintings and your feelings are so entwined. “You’re always trying to impress yourself.”

Another mission that implies so much to Hammarberg is his paintings with SZA on her SOS album, which used to be launched to nice acclaim in 2022. It displays the American artist sitting at the fringe of a diving board, surrounded by way of the ocean.

SZA had adopted the Swedish clothier on Instagram and when her crew reached out, it used to be a “surreal, crazy” second, as he used to be an enormous fan of her tune. Daniel Sannwald, who photographed the duvet, had additionally labored at the Rosalia album and sought after to carry Hammarberg directly to graphically carry the whole thing in combination for the mission. “That was one of those projects where they knew exactly the concept of the artwork and then my job was basically to bring it home.”

Hammarberg notes that a large a part of that mission used to be the out-of-home paintings, which he unearths fascinating as it’s “rewarding” to look your paintings in actual existence, no longer simply on a display screen. “I love extreme minimalism and a cocky approach, less is more, which is hard to balance because certain billboards need certain details. Anything from ‘Out Now’ to ‘Listen on Spotify,’ plus there’s usually a lot of ‘make the text bigger’ feedback.”

He references his billboard paintings for Rosalia all over Coachella, which used to be purely a close-up of her eyes. “Make it intriguing, make it not make sense,” he notes. “Then, you’re creating a really strong memory for the viewer, as opposed to seeing exactly what it is and you’ll probably just discard it later because you have all the information you need.”

At his core, Hammarberg is extremely detail-oriented, nearly obsessively so he admits, particularly with non-public paintings. However, operating within the fast paced tune business has taught him to conform. With tight cut-off dates, similar to turning round a mission in only some days, he’s realized to steadiness precision with potency.

“When I’m designing something, I’ll export it to my phone just to have a different perspective to look at it. And then I’ll go out and drink some coffee and have a cigarette and try to look at it from a fresh perspective. I can get super into it; it really affects me if a detail is off or I notice something. So, I’m extremely, extremely detail-oriented and that’s how I prefer to work.”

Hammarberg touches on his passion in era and, in fact, the topic turns to AI, which he’s fascinated about however “cautious” about the use of it in his paintings. “In my field, it’s a very, very hot topic because I think a lot of people are scared. Me, personally, the way I see it is kind of like how when the camera was invented and painters were freaking out.

“We then developed two very distinct art forms, so painters are still extremely valued. But I feel like, if I started using AI in my work indiscriminately, that, maybe from like an anxiety standpoint, I don’t want people to question my work and say, ‘Oh, you just used AI.’ I want to distinguish myself.”

Hammarberg does have a 2d, smaller account that he’s going to submit AI-generated paintings on, which he feels is simply otherwise to “express” himself with out hindering his core paintings.

In the longer term, he sees his creations operating neatly for type manufacturers similar to Acne Studios or Gucci, however would like to have a solo exhibition at a gallery. “Some kind of show to express myself rather than express someone else. That’s my biggest dream. My client is myself.”