De Sista Rökarna (The Last Smokers)

Jockum Nordström’s pictorial spaces don’t follow the logic of the real world. At a first glance, they appear carefree and improvised. In fact, his compositions are the result of careful consideration: Nordström typically composes his motifs in preliminary drawings and sketches before he sets to work on the copper plate. The interior in his etching De Sista Rökarna (The Last Smokers) is carefully crafted, and he is always aware of the fragmentary nature of the spaces he creates: ‘When I depict a door, I know what lies beyond: whether there is a long corridor, for example, or whether there is a staircase leading to another floor.’
Nordström gathers the pipe-smoking figures in De Sidsta Rökarna (The Last Smokers) around an absurdly large matchbox, which in turn allows associations with his sculptural practice, in which matchboxes and cardboard are among his favoured materials.