A surrealist artist, Toby Nilsson is an innovative painter whose enigmatic subject matter ranges from the symbolism of philosophy and religion to history and politics.
He treads a thin line between super-realism and surrealism, making a unique statement on the currents influencing humanity.
"Capricious, amusing, provocative, baffling, infuriating - but never boring." These are the words critics have used to describe Nilsson's art.
The artist himself views his works as narratives or visual commentaries on the world as he sees it. Painting since his mid-teens, Nilsson's art has always been an integral part of his life.
"To do is my motto in life and I do my artwork with sincerity, discipline and sheer joy," he said. "The byproduct is personal happiness. My wish is that people enjoy viewing my artwork as much I love creating the pieces."
He was born in the thousand-year-old city of Visby, Sweden on March 1, 1951 on the Island of Gotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1959, living first in Toronto before moving to Calgary nine years later. There, Toby took his professional art training at the Alberta College of Art where he majored in serigraphy, stone lithography, drawing and painting, graduating in 1974.
Soon after a vacation to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Nilsson moved to Victoria and mounted his first major public show at Open Space Gallery. He has since mounted countless one-artist shows throughout the province of BC. Nilsson's paintings are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Saskatchewan and both Alberta and B.C. government offices. Nilsson now lives in Ladysmith where he paints in his home [email protected]
