Ulla Fries

Ulla Fries said that her pictures often came to her in dreams, ready, just to be fixed to the plate, using the very precise and time-consuming technique of copper engraving. For the sake of the clean line and precision, Ulla Fries chose – above all – this way of expression throughout her almost fifty-year career. The motifs are often taken from nature; lizards, bats, and dried leaves, but also fantasy creations from the artist's own dreams. Surfaces and structures are closely examined with the curiosity of a child, precisely depicted with the rich, deep black of the engraving.

Ulla Fries (b. 1946, d. 2025, Uppsala) had a long and successful career. Her work can be found in all the most important Swedish art collections and for a time, she was also president of the Royal Academy of Arts, an important position in the Swedish art world.