© David Ertl

Review:

In her first solo exhibition with POV contemporary, Paris-based artist Sophie Westerlind presents a series of portraits that read like emotional impressions—intimate, gestural reflections on memory, connection, and presence. Rather than portraying fixed identities, her paintings offer glimpses into relationships and atmospheres, capturing fleeting inner states with striking immediacy.

In keeping with POV contemporary’s curatorial approach, The Lives We Live was shown in a setting carefully selected to echo the exhibition’s themes. This time, the venue was a private apartment—generously made available for the duration of the show. Far more than a neutral backdrop, the domestic space became an active element of the exhibition experience. It heightened the intimacy of Westerlind’s work and mirrored the emotional openness that runs through her portraits. Encountering the paintings within a lived-in environment encouraged a slower, more personal engagement—one that naturally invited reflection on one’s own memories and emotional landscapes.

The atmosphere of the apartment reinforced the sense of entering a space that was at once private and emotionally charged. Its proportions and lived character shifted the perception of the works—less as objects on display and more as quiet presences inhabiting the room alongside the viewer.

The Lives We Live is a deeply resonant exhibition that dissolves the boundaries between public and private, presence and memory. Westerlind’s portraits, in dialogue with the carefully chosen setting and the curatorial sensitivity behind it, create a space where emotional authenticity takes precedence over formality—a space to pause, observe, and connect.

Text: Caroline Steffen, Photos: David Ertl