"Forged and Welded Steel Sculpture" | by Miriam Ståhlgren

Forged and Welded Steel Sculpture is a sculptural work by Swedish artist Miriam Ståhlgren, inspired by the nature, landscape, and communities of Sweden’s west coast.

Ståhlgren’s sculptural practice grows from a desire to imitate and interpret things she does not entirely understand through the metalworking and craft processes she knows well. Her work draws from the understated beauty of the west coast—a landscape shaped by melancholy, practicality, weather, and the remains of industry.

Weather-beaten rigging, rusty iron beams, blue nylon ropes, and half-ruined sheds built with rough craftsmanship all inform the visual language of the work. These ordinary elements, shaped by necessity and time, are transformed through forging and welding into sculptural forms.

A particular source of inspiration is the sea mark: towers, lighthouses, and buoys that have long been a constant presence along the coast. Originally designed as recognizable navigational markers, many of these structures are uniquely crafted and have become distinctive landmarks of particular places. Some stand tall as beacons, while others are accompanied by bells that call through the fog.

Ståhlgren’s sea marks do not belong to any one specific location. Their village travels with them. Instead, each work carries a quiet sense of place—a small, wordless story inspired by the landscape and the traces of human activity along the coast.

Through forged and welded steel, Ståhlgren transforms these observations into a sculptural object that sits somewhere between industrial structure, coastal landmark, and poetic interpretation of place.

The work invites the viewer to engage with it in their own way: to imagine the place it might belong to, to find their own associations, or simply to encounter it as an object without a fixed story.

Forged and Welded Steel Sculpture was exhibited as part of the “Jinny Playground” exhibition in Jingumae 2-chome, Tokyo, where the work was presented alongside other contemporary sculptural works and invited viewers to encounter and interpret it in their own way.

Artwork Specifications

Artist
Miriam Ståhlgren

Title
Forged and Welded Steel Sculpture

Material
Steel

Technique
Forged and welded

Concept
Inspired by the sea marks, lighthouses, towers, and buoys found along Sweden’s west coast, as well as the weathered industrial landscape and practical craftsmanship of its coastal communities.

Function
Sculptural artwork.

Miriam Ståhlgren Contact

https://www.instagram.com/miriam.stahlgren/