Large size sculptures made out of paper pulp. First shown at the solo show SLEEP at Varbergs Konsthall together with ALL BIRDS OF SWEDEN.
THE MUSEUM presents a series of life-size sleeping mammals that seem to have escaped their displays, resting among pedestals, foundations and display cases. Removed from the staged environments of the natural history museum, the animals and the structures that once contained them begin to merge.
The sculptures are made from paper pulp, a material derived from coniferous trees. The animals appear as fragile shells, replacing the preserved specimens of the natural history museum with something more ephemeral.
The work becomes a reconstructed shadow of a natural history museum, where animals, displays and foundations form a new kind of museum body. In their sleep, the animals occupy a state between stillness and potential, suspended between preserved nature and life.
The work was first exhibited alongside All Birds of Sweden in the solo exhibition SLEEP at Varbergs Konsthall in 2025–2026, bringing together two perspectives on how nature is collected, classified and presented in the museum.
Image #1-4: © 2024 Fredrik Strid. All rights reserved.