Gläntan (The Glade)

In public art, animals are a recurring and often very popular motif. It’s hard not to feel tenderness towards a squirrel that suddenly appears in front of you – whether living or made of bronze – don’t you think?

Outside Tybble preschool, the children get to meet and play with a company of animals gathered together in Eva Fornåå’s sculpture group The Glade. A hare, a badger, a squirrel, and in the centre, a scouting deer – all in their natural sizes. They don’t appear especially frightened, either of each other or of us humans. The badger has even sat himself down on a rock. What is this meeting the animals have gathered in the glade for? Is it the place that has a particular attraction for the usually shy animals?

Glades and forest edges are special places where the forest opens up – where the darkness of the trees can provide space for light. The artist lets the magically meaningful existence of the saga and the fable trickle into the everyday life of the preschool.

Eva Fornåå is a sculptor and makes a lot of public art. She lives in Motala but was born in Gothenburg in 1962. She studied at the Hovedskous Painting School in Gothenburg and later at the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts. Her work is populated by various animals, both life-like and fanciful. About her work, she has said: “There are so many horrors and miseries in the world. I try to focus on the good.”