Swedish artist Ekta reconsiders simple geometric shapes

Ekta, real name Daniel Gotesson, is a 38-year-old artist who currently lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden. Daniel’s creative background is rooted in skateboarding and graffiti, scenes which still inspire his work. “I got very important sources of inspiration in those years and it still has an affect on what I do,” Daniel says. “I’m not from a very cultural family or environment but I think in a way that was an advantage, I had to find my own.”

Daniel’s boldly geometric work vibrates with the artist’s hand. “The majority of my work is personal and with no brief, that’s the absolute best circumstances for me to work under,” he says. “That’s entirely my own thing and I don’t have to worry too much about what other people think about it and I can take that in any direction I want.” Still, Ekta has illustrated for the New York Times, turned his hand to fashion, collaborating with Marni on a capsule collection, and recently worked on a set of sketchbooks layered with collage, paint, drawings and tape to be published by Swedish design studio Lundgren+Lindqvist, who discovered the books when visiting Ekta’s studio.

A no-holds-barred sense of freedom shouts out from Daniel’s confident work across different mediums, on canvas or across entire walls, with fabric flags or torn coloured paper. “I try to work in a wide range of mediums and I don’t want to limit myself to just painting,” he says. “My process is about limitations, order, balance and self-sabotage. I see my work as placing things – shapes, colours etc. – in an order that feels right but once that is achieved I often get bored and feel a strong urge to destroy it. If I go out to paint a wall, I often restrict myself to few colours and mediums. With limitations I don’t have to stop to make decisions during process and that helps me keep a better rhythm and flow.”