Leo Ohlin (b. 19 June, 2007) is a Swedish painter, and founder of the Somniocentrism.
Somniocentrism is a undeveloped theory categorized as a form of post-idealism & post-existentialism.
Studio
Dostoff-House / Södergården (Björnsträdgård)
Götgatan 45, Stockholm
Third Floor
I want to truly thank Södergården for providing me a place to work in.
Life this far
I showed an early interest in art. At the age of six, my parents enrolled me in an art school. Left when I was around twelve.
I had a dissatisfaction with the bourgeois-philosophy approach towards art at high school, so I dropped out.
At 15, I began exhibiting my work and curated a group exhibition in a larger venue. This exhibition led me to meet Oskar Pyk, who later became a mentor to me. He was astonished by my work and introduced me to a network of poets, directors, et cetera. I had for a longer part of my life struggled to really fit somewhere. And suddenly I found a group of people having this anarchistic artistic playfulness around life and it felt very liberating.
After leaving school, I maintained a strong connection with the staff on Södergården, which eventually offered me a workspace in Björnsträdgården, a building set to be renovated. During this period, I developed the foundations of what I later called “Somniocentrism”
Briefly about the Somniocentrism
Humans are as instinct-driven as any other species. It’s not that I see individuals animalistic, but I think that we’re constantly consuming information and that we're very fragile beings. Our ability to question the ego is simply how an animal reacts when granted a more developed frontal cortex. Just as ants sustain a system that unconsciously tricks them into believing they are contributing to something special, humans are similarly deceived. When we die, everything we value in this life becomes meaningless. So, is it more or less egotistical to manipulate others through collectivism or to rebel against it?
We believe in our desire, yet it's the atmosphere—our mental environment—that truly shapes us. We humans adapt remarkably well; when placed in different situations, our approach changes and so do our morals. What if we could shape ourselves and become independent, realizing that our truth lies within our minds?
I’m probably just another prideful dwarf, standing on invisible giants shoulders.
Vision
I sincerely believe that emotions control the moral, therefore I want to control the moral through my work.