On 16 April, we hosted a heartfelt event with the Swedish comic artist and illustrator Bim Eriksson meeting her fans and comic art enthusiasts. In the warm and open atmosphere, she openly shared stories about the practical side of her work, about catching the waves of sudden inspiration, and about art teaching her patience. As for patience, she referred to the four years long adventure of bringing her dystopian art work “Baby Blue” to completion. Moreover, Bima shared her experience, tips and tricks on promoting her artwork and attracting an international audience through translation of comics. This talk exceeded the initial topic of comics, touching also upon broader and deeper themes, such as storytelling itself and the diversity and ever-changing nature of worldviews.
Bim Eriksson (born in 1991) is a graphic novel creator, artist and illustrator based in Stockholm, Sweden. Eriksson made her debut in 2016 with the autobiographical graphic novel “I felt nothing when my feelings died”, and hit it big with her graphic novel Baby Blue published in 2021, a dystopian story set in an almost Orwellian society where failure, grief and mental disorders are banned. Baby Blue is published in six languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish; with two upcoming publications in English and Portuguese.
Her comics and narrative works have been published in newspapers and magazines such as Le Monde diplomatique, Internazionale, Galago comic magazine and BANG. Bim's artistic practice extends beyond the comics – in 2023 she made the visual identity for two famous Swedish pop singers and their joint summer tour, and in 2019 she made her first public art commission. The heart of Eriksson’s artistic practice is the eagerness to tell stories, build new worlds and convey complex emotions.
The meeting with the artist was organised by the comics publishing house “kuš!” in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia.
