By Honorary Reporter Nsikak Ekere from Nigeria
Photos = Niklas Elmehed

This year's Nobel Prize in Literature went to Han Kang, the first Asian woman to receive this honor. 

The portraits of this year's Nobel laureates were painted by Niklas Elmehed, a Swedish artist who has done this for 12 years. His distinct visual style has been shown on global media, and he creates motion graphics for the Swedish national soccer team.

The following are excerpts from an email interview with Elmehed from Oct. 20-23. 

How was painting this year's Nobel laureates including Han Kang?

It's always a great experience for me to play a small part in introducing Nobel laureates to the world through their portraits. I really liked painting Han Kang and paid extra attention to her hair and smile.

What has inspired your technique and what elements did you use to draw Han?
I've studied a lot of ink drawings from Asia, mainly from Japan and China but also from Korea. The famous portraits by Andy Warhol are also a big inspiration.

What memories and challenges did you have doing this year's portraits?
It's always a challenge to make a portrait look like the person, especially someone I haven't met in real life. Sometimes they're also much older today than they were in the photos I use as references.

This year, it was also extra fun to paint Nihon Hidankyo, the origami crane symbol of the Nobel Peace Prize. I couldn't figure out how to apply the gold shadows, so my colleague folded an origami bird for me to depict.

How did each winner affect your paintings?
I didn't have time to learn about any of the laureates; I only focused on their faces. But I loved to read about the prizes and Han Kang's books in the following weeks after the announcements.

How did this experience affect your status and your plans going forward?
I usually get a lot of attention around the announcements and did several interviews. I appreciate that. At the moment, I have many ideas for paintings to experiment with and work on in the coming months.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.