Katja Pettersson

EXTINCT: 14 solitary bees (2021)

During the residency Disruptions in Utopia, Land Left Behind at the former Tegelbruket in Falkenberg—located halfway between the town centre and the beach—I returned each week to a site marked by abandonment and displaced promises of the future. The residency gave me time to listen to the land, to read the landscape, and to understand the structures that have shaped it. The brickworks became for me a symbol of a disturbed utopia – a place where visions of growth have left traces, but also voids.

From this work, EXTINCT emerged. The work consists of fourteen watercolours depicting the fourteen species of solitary bees that were declared extinct in Halland in 2022. I present four of them here. Each painting renders the species’ specific hue and wing form. In the fragility of watercolour—pigment dissolving into water—there is a reflection of how habitats are slowly dissolving within a changing landscape.

In Halland, large-scale agriculture dominates, with extensive areas dedicated to monocultures. Pesticides harm the bees, and when flowering plants are cut before they bloom, their access to pollen and nectar disappears. This loss occurs gradually and almost imperceptibly, yet its consequences are far-reaching. Without bees there is no pollination; without pollination no crops—and ultimately no food for us humans.

The watercolours were first exhibited at gallery KUBEN in 2022, in the entrance hall of the Falkenberg Town Hall, a space passed daily by citizens, politicians, and civil servants. There, the extinct bees were given a place at the centre of everyday decision-making. I wanted them to meet the gaze of those with the capacity to influence the future of the landscape.

EXTINCT is both a process of mourning and an activation of place. Through the residency, I was able to work slowly and site-specifically, allowing research, conversations, and walks to shape the work. I see the project as an attempt to hold the gaze on what is disappearing—and to create a space in which loss becomes visible, tangible, and shared.

The work depicts the following species Andrena-thoracica, Andrena humilis, Lasioglossum-leucopus, Bombus_muscorum, Megachile lagopoda, Nomada-argentata, Bombus ruderatus, Lasioglossum lativentre, Anthophora plagiata, Andrena fulvago, Nomada baccata, Bombus veteranus, Lasioglossum sexnotatulum, Panurgus banksianus.

– Katja Pettersson

Katja Pettersson is a designer and artist whose practice is thematically anchored by the human imprint—a recurring thread throughout her work. She employs an exploratory approach across various media, ranging from large-scale public art installations to watercolor painting.

https://www.katjapettersson.com/

The residency Disruptions in Utopia, Land Left Behind (Falkenberg Municipality, 2021) invited the artistic activation of two sites in Falkenberg: Tegelbruket 6, a former industrial plot situated between the town center and Skrea Beach; and Gruebäcken, a watercourse separating two areas with differing socioeconomic conditions. The project’s starting point was an exploration of how inclusive, speculative and critical design and landscape architecture can help us reimagine places we have left behind.