Tilda Lundbohm
tilda.lundbohm@gmail.com
Memory Machines is an installation of works based on the memories of Tilda Lundbohm. Arranged on aluminium tables, the sculptures move in slow, choreographed gestures that combine clinical precision with emotional depth. Rooted in personal experiences in child psychiatric institutions and residential treatment centers, the installation immerses the viewer in a labyrinth of fleeting memories. The works are accompanied by unsentimental, poetic texts – one text for each sculpture.
Installation view.(Photo: David Stjernholm)
In the artist’s own words: ”The sculptures help me process my history, offering solace. I reflect on how healthcare and social services, meant to help, often harmed us—yet I’m grateful to have survived. The machines’ repetitive motions mirror trauma treatment, where memories must be relived to heal.”
Alive. (Photo: David Stjernholm)
The installation consists of:
-Alive features a butterfly collection in which one butterfly is brought to life through a mechanical construction.
-Songbirds consists of glass casts and the ashes from taxidermied birds. During the casting process, the birds are cremated, and the glass takes their place, filling the cavity they once occupied.
-Bird of Prey mimics the shape of a bird, with piano hammers on its wingtips hammering against a metal disk.
-Memory-Go-Round consists of three carousels, each of which slowly pulls gloves embroidered with anatomical cross sections – caught in an endless loop – performing a slow, ghostly dance.
-Anne, a CPR mannequin of the type used worldwide in first-aid courses, simulates breathing, its chest rising and falling.
-Two glass feet stand on the floor, as if to ground and connect the works to each other.
Songbirds. (Photo: David Stjernholm)
Together, the series Memory Machines the works operate in quiet, rhythmic gestures, carrying a legacy of uneasy beauty —taxidermied memories. Through electricity and movement, Lundbohm invites viewers into a poetic meditation on the mechanics of memory.
Installation view. (Photo: David Stjernholm)
bio: Tilda Lundbohm (b. 1994) works primarily with sculpture and installation. Through a combination of different materials and techniques, Lundbohm raises questions about human existence, where human needs, urges and thoughts about life and death are in focus. She often works from her own history of psychiatry, illness, trauma, violence and death. Her art is characterized by clear narratives and rich symbolic ideas, highlighting the most vulnerable aspects of humanity. Creating works that both fascinate and move, she addresses themes of vulnerability, loneliness, and the exposure of the body and mind to external and internal forces. She also explores the complex emotions surrounding the beginning and end of life, and the moral and existential questions that arise in this spectrum. Lundbohm’s work often acts as a kind of mirror for the viewer, confronting us with our own fears, longings and existential questions, while drawing us into her whimsical and often poetic world.
