Johan Priebe Swedish, b. 1989

I am an artist working primarily with ceramics, though my practice is open to a multitude of materials. My journey into clay was a deliberate step into a medium that allows me to work tactilely in three dimensions, shaping ideas directly with my hands and observing them emerge in real time. After years of designing for others—logos, album covers, and projects where I nurtured other people’s visions—I now create entirely for myself, bringing my own inner questions, feelings, and ideas into physical form.

My work is guided by what I call “fragments of reality”: familiar shapes, objects, and impressions that I reconfigure through a surrealist lens. Influenced by childhood fascinations like Alice in Wonderland, the playfulness of Dada, and the wonder of existence itself, I aim to reflect the strange, dreamlike quality of life while remaining anchored in recognizable forms. Faces, bodies, animals, and abstract shapes merge into vibrant sculptures that inhabit a space somewhere between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Color plays a central role in my work. Growing up in Sweden, I observed a societal restraint toward color, from clothing to interiors. For me, color is a tool of individuality and joy—it allows my pieces to take their place, command attention, and spark curiosity. I favor vivid, maximalist palettes that contrast with my background in minimalistic digital design, creating work that is energetic, playful, and unmistakably alive.

My process is iterative, conceptual, and deeply personal. I am constantly writing, sketching, and “3D modeling” ideas in my mind before touching clay. Many pieces emerge from daily reflections, quotes, or feelings that I distill into form, yet I welcome the viewer’s interpretation, allowing each sculpture to live beyond my own intentions. The goal is not to control how a piece is perceived but to manifest what I feel, releasing it into the world as a fully realized object.

While my work is rooted in personal experience and imagination, it is also informed by music, life, and the broader cultural landscape. I listen constantly, using rhythm, texture, and sonic narrative as subtle guides in shaping my visual language. I intentionally minimize direct influence from other artists, choosing to develop my own tools, forms, and aesthetic from within.

Ultimately, my art is about living vividly. It embodies a philosophy I hold close: life is fleeting, and we are here only for a short time. My sculptures, with their color, form, and surreal playfulness, are an extension of this outlook—a way to inhabit and celebrate existence fully, both in my own practice and in the experience they offer to others.