Lisa Larson

To visit Lisa Larson's studio in Nacka near Stockholm center, where she is still active, is to rendezvous with Swedish design history. She has been a prolific designer for 70 years and tends to her pet objects almost as if they were live companions. Lisa Larson's studio abounds with mock-ups, assorted sketches, finely carved miniature sculptures, and lots of figurines. Her starkly colored flock of Birds first came about 1967 when she and her family visited the US and have finally been put in production many decades later. They are a testament to her delight in strong colors, clear graphic designs, and folklore, and also to a time of belief in peace and understanding. After having completed her degree at HDK, the College of Crafts and Design in Gothenburg 1954, she was employed at Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory under the artistic director Stig Lindberg. 'We showed our proposals two times a year,' she remembers, 'and they mostly wanted my figurines. I have always had my inspiration in my hands, I don't usually sketch or think too much before I start creating.' Her artwork made her a household name in Sweden already in the 50s, and also abroad especially in Japan where she had her first solo exhibition in 1981. Cats, politicians, angels, and many other inspirations has been masterly transformed into some 200 different figurines at Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory. Tired of being tied to one factory, she successfully started out as a freelancer in 1980 and expanded her craft to include household ceramics for a number of Swedish companies including Åhléns, Kooperativa Förbundet, and Rosenthal.