On behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, I painted the diploma artworks for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022, Physics 2023, and the Economy Prize 2024.
The Economy Prize 2024
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded in 2024 to Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, and Simon Johnson “for studies of how institutions are shaped and impact prosperity”. In my diplomas, I wanted to find a way to visualize the connection between economic development and what the laureates call inclusive institutions.
Acemoglu’s, Robinson’s, and Johnson’s research has shown that the background to why some countries are rich and others poor can be found in how European colonial powers built different types of institutions in the various parts of the world they colonized. In colonized areas where the colonial powers’ own population preferred to settle, inclusive institutions were created, providing European settlers in countries like the USA and Canada with good economic conditions. In countries like Congo, extractive institutions were established, where the colonial power grabbed resources without building legislation, legal systems, or power structures that created local prosperity. Over time, this meant that countries with inclusive institutions became wealthy economies, while countries where colonial powers left extractive institutions continue to be characterized by poverty and inequality.
In my paintings for the economic sciences diplomas, I wanted to capture three themes: Nobel, inclusive institutions, and economic development. I found my motifs around Stockholm City Hall – a symbol of both local democracy and the Nobel festivities. Instead of using the often depicted beautiful exterior of the city hall as a motif, I let it serve as a background, focusing on various construction sites I found around the city centre, with the unsung heroes of any economy as the motif. I named the paintings “Prosperity”, “Progress”, and “Power”, borrowing frequently used terms from the laureates’ research.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023
The Physics Prize in 2023 was awarded to Anne L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz for experimental methods generating attosecond light pulses for studying electron dynamics in matter.
Attosecond light pulses are almost incomprehensibly short flashes of light that allow observation of electron movement. For my diploma paintings, I sought out the shortest and most beautiful light glimmers I know, connecting to the prize motivation. The motifs, depicting sun-glittering water surfaces, were sourced from the Västerbotten coast and Lake Erken in Roslagen.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022 went to K. Barry Sharpeless, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, and Morten Meldal for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.
Click chemistry involves a flexible and efficient way of joining molecules, creating a reaction that enables molecules previously difficult to combine to “click” together – not unlike molecular Lego. In the task of painting the artworks for the laureates’ diplomas, I focused on the click reaction concept.
The watercolors in the three chemistry prize laureates’ diplomas form parts of a triptych with forest motifs. A triptych is an artwork divided into three images, typically only coherent when assembled in one specific way. In this triptych, however, the paintings can be combined in any manner – they can, so to speak, be “clicked” together through image elements that cross margins and continue into the next motif.
An honour to be part of the Nobel celebrations
Collaborating with calligraphers and bookbinders to create these diplomas has been a fantastic assignment. My goal with each painting was to help the laureates feel recognized and honored for their research work. I am grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the opportunity to be a small part of the fine and significant work done to highlight scientific achievements “for the greatest benefit to humankind”.
Copyright
The Economy Prize 2024
Artist: Elisabeth Biström | Calligrapher: Marie A. Györi | Book binder: Leonard Gustafssons Bokbinderi AB | Photo reproduction: XX | © Nobelstiftelsen 2024
Nobelpriset i fysik 2023
Artist: Elisabeth Biström | Calligrapher: Marie A. Györi | Book binder: Leonard Gustafssons Bokbinderi AB | Photo reproduction: Dan Lepp | © Nobelstiftelsen 2023
Nobelpriset i kemi 2022
Artist: Elisabeth Biström | Calligrapher: Marianne Pettersson Soold | Book binder: Leonard Gustafssons Bokbinderi AB | Photo reproduction: Lovisa Engblom | © Nobelstiftelsen 2022