Bruce Karim · Selected work
Materials, body
and belonging.
Ugandan-Swedish multidisciplinary artist based in Stockholm, working across painting, mixed media, creative reuse, dance and performance.
Painting and dance are connected languages in my practice. I work with colour, texture, rhythm and physical gesture to explore identity, freedom and belonging. Here, finished artworks sit alongside live encounters and shared creative processes.
Painting
The Untouchable No-1
Acrylic on canvas · 2024
Animal imagery becomes a way of exploring feminine strength, protection and freedom. Colour and gesture hold vulnerability and defiance within the same image.
The gaze is an invitation to look closer: at the animal, at the figure, and at what each might carry.
Born Champion
Acrylic on canvas · 80 × 80 cm · 2025
A buffalo portrait exploring resilience and determination through a direct gaze, layered colour and expressive marks.
Fragments of Tomorrow
Acrylic, recycled packaging, a can and spray paint on plywood · Detail
Material becomes part of the portrait. Previous use and physical texture remain visible in the image.
Creative reuse
Bird Without Feathers
Development sample · 50 × 80 cm · Not for sale
Found packaging, textiles and painted surfaces
The shape, texture and previous life of a material influence the figure that develops. In this work, found materials become a bird-like form. I allow their histories to remain part of its presence.
Live painting & movement
Sound of Freedom
Movement-based painting · 5 × 5 m · MadeBy Gallery, Stockholm · 2025
Sound of Freedom brings the body into the act of painting. Created through movement and rhythm, the large floor work holds traces of physical presence and an unfolding creative process.
The image is both a surface to look at and a record of movement through space.
Performance
RISE UP
Live painting, movement, sound and silence come together in an encounter between body, materials and audience. RISE UP grows from questions of identity, Black representation, visibility and belonging.
These presentations are part of an evolving practice. I am developing the scenes, choreography, spatial arrangements and sound into an expanded performance.
Dance & movement
The body as a language.
Rhythm, gesture and stillness allow me to work with presence and expression beyond words. On stage, movement meets the energy of an audience; in workshops, it becomes a language to share.
Dance workshops in Uganda
Studio workshops and community movement activities in Uganda are part of my international practice. Teaching and creative exchange bring people together through the body, rhythm and shared experimentation.
Commissions & public work
Art made for a place and its people.
Väsbyhem
Three paintings · Upplands Väsby · 2017
At 19, I created three paintings during a summer job with Väsbyhem. Recognition in a youth magazine and several interviews encouraged me to keep developing as an artist.
Municipal youth-centre commission
Upplands Väsby · 2020
A separate art commission for a youth centre supporting young people with CVs, job searches and empowerment.
Participatory practice
Creating space for others.
I founded Rise & Change to create opportunities for children and young people to explore their own expression.
Through Trygga rum för barn och unga, we work with art, dance, movement, storytelling and creative reuse in schools, after-school activities, school holidays and community spaces.
This shared practice is connected to my artistic life through experimentation, movement and making room for other people’s ideas.
Research in development
Still Arriving
I am Ugandan-Swedish. When I return to Uganda, I am seen as a foreigner. In Sweden, I experience that same distance. I belong to both places, yet I feel like an outsider in both.
Still Arriving is a developing body of work in painting and mixed media exploring identity, documents and how others recognise belonging. The main body of paintings is still to be made.
Selected sold works
These original works have found their homes. They offer another view of my painting practice. If a colour, subject or feeling connects with you, we can begin a conversation about a new commissioned artwork.
Emotions No-1
Sold · Original artwork
Emotions No-2
Sold · Original artwork
All Eyes on Me
Sold · Original artwork
Stockholm in Summer (40 × 40 cm) and Summer in Stockholm (50 × 70 cm): both originals sold.
Continue the conversation.
For exhibitions, artwork enquiries, commissions, performances and artistic collaborations, get in touch.
