Tänk Gittan om vi kunde stanna tiden (Imagen Gittan if we could stop time) is a public commission for the municipality of Knivsta and their Center for Sports and Culture in memory of the athlete Gösta “Knivsta” Sandberg. During his career, Gösta played hockey, football and bandy, and he was faithful to his teem Djurgården all those years. To get to know Gösta, I talked to his son, visited the places he lived at and read articles and personal portraits. The work consists of objects in wood that all have a clear connection to Gösta. Each object is sawn out of 20 mm thick boards, processed with wood chisels and burned with a gas burner and mounted on the wall like a collage.

Each object has a connection to Gösta and together they form a kind of altar or monument. The title is Gösta’s own words which he whispered to his wife one evening when the children were small and the whole family was gathered. Important in the work has been sensitivity and respect.

The need for a meaning or belief beyond oneself is equally strong in all cultures no matter where you are I think. In a secularized country like Sweden, great focus is placed on sports, and for some our gods and goddesses wear soccer shoes or skis. There is something beautiful and human about putting so much faith and energy into a sport. I want to reinforce this by placing the objects like an altarpiece.