I always thought that I had a normal Australian childhood, that was until I learnt that my friends didn't use cheese slicers to slice their cheese.
This was my epiphany. From then on the differences just snowballed.
It was then that I realized that I was not a proper Australian. The signs were there; from the cheese slicer to the excessive time spent at the Swedish furniture store. Truth be told, in my childhood ignorance, I thought that everyone was equally skilled at assembling flat-pack furniture as me.
I went on a journey to find my label.
Surely if I wasn't Australian then I must be Swedish, but no, I had never lived in Sweden and the only connection that I had with Sweden was that it was the place where my mother was born and raised. On my near-yearly visits to Sweden, I was always called the Australian.
So was I too Swedish to be Australian? Or too Australian to be Swedish?
I created my work as a way to explore my identity at a point between both countries. A point carefully balanced to include both nationalities. A point where I must be mindful to not turn my back on one culture or country, which I have chosen to demonstrate through the act of viewing my artwork as mirror images.
I found a point where I am "lagom" Swedish and "lagom" Australian, lagom being the Swedish word for not too much, not too little, just right.
