My Puzzle Pieces av Gladys Sveide

Across the street from my house in Georgia lie the cotton fields. I came here when my
daughter moved for her studies, stayed, started a family, and my heart stayed with her.

During a turbulent time in my life, I found comfort in painting a cotton flower each morning. It became a ritual, a space to feel, reflect, and bring meaning to the difficult.

The practice began as a task from my mentor: a daily painting paired with a quote. Marguerite Duras’ words Not crying is the same as not living”stayed with me.
At the same time, I started painting color fields, a series where each shade became a puzzle piece in a larger whole.

A fragmented life, yet filled with hope that one day, the puzzle would come together.

Born in Lebanon in 1967, I fled the war and found a new home in Sweden. Years later, when my only child moved to the United States, my heart followed her, and that country
became my second home. The longing to be close to her, and to my beloved grandchild, Milo, has shaped both my life and my art.

Each time I missed her, I painted a cotton flower. This ritual became a way to hold her presence in color and form, to make absence visible and tender. In the same spirit,
I created an asemic letter over 7,5 meters/ 295,28 ” (24.61 feet) long, a silent message reaching out to her, filled with everything I could not say in words.

From this practice grew my series Mood of the Day. Each painting carries the date and a quote, capturing the mood of that moment – fragments of longing, reflection, and hope.

Contact: sv.gladys@gmail.com Instagram: @gsveide

Facebook: gladysarts.com

+46 (0)707 755 378