Ystad skulpturpark

The memorial park in Ystad’s old cemetery – Gamla kyrkogården – is ornamented by a sculpture created by artist and craftsman, Sigvard Nilsson. When he received the commission in 1986 from the Parish of Ystad, it took him a long time to decide on the form the sculpture would take. For him, it was a delicate assignment that he took very seriously. Sigvard Nilsson is widely known for his fine and ingenious wood sculptures. Wood was not a conceivable alternative for this assignment, in view of durability. He therefore chose to create the artwork in bronze on a granite pedestal from the stonemasonry company, Ystads Stenhuggeri. Eventually, he found the organic and soft form that works so well in the setting. He took inspiration from one of his great interests; nature. The inside of the sculpture is gilded. To the sculpture Sigvard Nilsson added the words: “Resting in the Trust that Creates the World”, which are carved on the granite pedestal. The words are taken from the last stanza of the Karin Boyes poem Ja visst gör det ont (Yes, of Course it Hurts), which is in the poetry collection, För trädets skull (For the Sake of the Tree).

Sigvard Nilsson was educated in Malmö at the Essem School in sculpture and art handicraft. In 1954, he started his company Söwekonst, which was based in Sövestad. He focused on art handicraft, furniture making and everyday articles. He was also a frequently commissioned designer with a wide range of assignments. He worked mainly in domestic types of wood such as birch, oak and red beech. A large part of his output was exported to the USA and Germany. In the USA, Sigvard Nilsson was awarded, among other things, three gold medals at an industry fair. In Sweden, he was awarded the 1969 Red Beech Prize by the foundation, Pro-bok, whose aim was to promote the use of Swedish red beech. In 1972, he won the Ystad Culture Prize for “imagination, the joy of creating and for his strong feeling for material, form and nature”.