Ivar Lövheim | Dreamstone

We are pleased to present Ivar Lövheim’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, titled Dreamstone. The opening reception is on Thursday August 21, 17.00—20.00.

Ivar Lövheim’s structured paintings, reminiscent of lichen and moss covered rocks, can be perceived as directly detached from nature. Using beeswax, fine sand, and pigments, he creates tactile studies of nature’s shifting surfaces.

During his time at the Academy of Fine Art, he worked primarily with abstract painting, without clear references to ”reality”. Later on, as he began to examine his visual influences, he realized that his gaze often drifted downward—toward the ground. The flat surface beneath him became a natural parallel to the canvas.

He describes the lichens as the main characters of his paintings, while emphasizing that he is not particularly interested in them from a biological perspective. Rather, he sees them as visual components that give structure to the works. The often poetic names of lichens—moonglow, gold dust, sunburst, silverskin—can certainly spark associations, but Lövheim strives to let them remain mainly color and form on the canvas. The resulting works inhabit a space between abstraction and referentiality, suggesting a sense of place without depicting any specific one.

The title Dreamstone refers to a tradition of finding meaning in nature’s own images. An example is naturally formed stones, minerals, or sediments, where time, pressure and chance have created patterns that seem to resemble something else. A coastline, a cloud, a memory. In Qing dynasty (1644–1912) China, such stones were collected and valued for their evocative qualities. Lövheim seeks to create images that, just like these, invite quiet contemplation and offer a space for reflection.  

Born in Skellefteå in 1983, Ivar Lövheim holds an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2014–2019). Previous solo and group exhibition venues include Galleri Hammarén, Gothenburg (2025, 2023), Molekyl Gallery, Malmö (2022), Varbergs Konsthall, Varberg (2021), GIBCA – Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (2019), and Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg (2019, 2017). Lövheim's works are represented in numerous public collections, including Public Art Agency Sweden, Region Uppsala, Region Örebro, and Västra Götalandsregionen.