Call to Submit: 2026 Booooooom Illustration Awards
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“Private Language” by Malin Gabriella Nordin

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Artist Malin Gabriella Nordin created a series of sculptures and then invited eleven children between the ages of three and five to interpret them.
“I met with each child individually for an hour to discuss the collection: what they thought the sculptures looked like, if there was a story connected to them, which one they liked the most, etc. I asked each child if they felt the collection was missing something, and if so could they draw the missing piece. I asked them if the sculptures were placed in the right order or if they wanted to rearrange them, which every child except for one did. Even the children who didn’t have anything to say about my sculptures were so certain when they started to move them around. There was no hesitation – they knew exactly how and where they were supposed to go. Before any judgment on the beautiful or the ugly, before any acceptance or refusal (official or private), they provided a testimony of a certain way of being in the world, experiencing the world.“

Malin has produced a beautiful book of the project (which you can order here). I’ve included more images from inside the book below!

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Malin Gabriella Nordin’s Website

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