Staffan Gnosspelius

Staffan Gnosspelius' body of work called 'Bear' is an exploration of mental health. Over the last nine years, Gnosspelius has created prints and drawings of two characters: a bear with a cone stuck on his head and a hare. At the beginning of this project, Gnosspelius was struggling to find a way to help and support someone very close to him who was dealing with depression and alcoholism. The work developed in response to the difficulties he faced. From the over 160 etching plates produced over the years, a book has been created and published by Seven Stories Press in New York this spring. It's an 80-page wordless picture book full of etchings. Gnosspelius graduated with a first from Edinburgh College of Art, Visual Communications, in 2002. Since then he has worked at Artichoke Printworkshop, where he now teaches and assists in the running of the workshop. He has been exhibited in the UK, USA, Sweden, Italy, Denmark Korea and Japan. His prints were featured in the TV series 'Flowers' and he has published picture books in English, Swedish, French, Russian and Korean.