SARA EXIT – Examensutställning 2026

Alexander Samuelsson enjoys creating large-scale works in which he explores the interplay between realism and abstraction.
He has a particular interest in painting nature and animals, an interest that has grown during his time in Simrishamn.
While attending SARA, he would often go down to the reef during lunch breaks to paint birds through binoculars; there is much to learn from studying birds in their natural habitat.

Through his paintings, he aims to inspire viewers to pause in their daily lives and take a closer look at their surroundings.

Anael Hester was born in 2002 and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She creates art as a way to learn everything she can about the process. The act of learning—and the satisfaction she gains from watching her progress in real time—provides her with the motivation to create for the joy it brings. Through her work, Anael seeks to express her perspective on the world around her and the world within her, as a unique act of love.

Danielle Deiotte was raised primarily in Michigan, USA but lived in Poland for a few years as a child and completed high school in South Africa. She then studied at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she worked thereafter, before attending SARA to build the technique and craftsmanship she craved in her personal work. Deiotte was drawn back to her childhood love of art in pursuit of the flow state that comes with creation. She quickly fell in love with the tradition of creating from life, particularly capturing the essence of a person through their portrait and nude figure. She explores universal themes through deeply personal work.

Filip Conrad Russell (Pippil) started his career in local arts and crafts non-profits where he learned the value and the joy of making things by hand. Through learning from the more experienced members his skills and curiosity grew. Russell enrolled at SARA to learn to slow down and observe the world, and to continue learning from his peers. Drawing inspiration from lost history, failed visions of the future and primitive technology he create colourful works with traditional methods.

Jörundur Óskarsson, born in Iceland, developed a commitment to artistic practice that led him through a range of art educations. He grew increasingly frustrated by the absence of technical training—particularly in the skills necessary to represent nature. This search led him to SARA, whose teaching resonated with his aspirations. He relocated to Sweden to pursue a disciplined study of his craft.

Kajsa Nielsen is a traditional painter who grew up in Malmö, but always longed for nature. For most of her life she has been surrounded by horses, and would draw inspiration from nature and animals. After moving to Simrishamn and going through the education at SARA, she has been equipped with a deep knowledge and fascination of light and form. She exclusively works from life or fantasy, often outdoors, as that is what inspires her. In her works, she examines personal growth and experiences, relationships between people and the mystique of the world.

Luana Elsass is an artist with a deep passion for nature and a great love for horses. Her art is characterized by emotions and personal experiences, with each piece telling a unique story. Drawing inspiration from nature and the impressions she gains from animals and her surroundings, Luana creates paintings with a warm and homely feel.

Through her creative work, she explores memories, moods, and the relationship between humans and nature. After completing her studies at SARA Academy, she looks forward to continuing to develop as an artist and sharing her passion with a wider audience.

Matt Hatting is a Danish Greenlandic artist with a bachelor background in communication and design and focuses on imaginary realism and storytelling. He works primarily in oil paint and ink and is inspired by the golden age of illustration at the turn of the 19th century.

Before coming to SARA she has been doing book illustrations, paintings in watercolors and concert photography.
Her biggest inspirations are mythology, nature and rock music. In her personal works she combines realistic approach with romantic symbolism and a touch of magical perception of reality, works both from life and from imagination. She is fond of capturing impressions of the places she has visited through landscape and cityscape paintings and drawings.
Natalia's artworks are now in Simrishamn commune's collection.

Össur grew up in the village of Eiði in the Faroe Islands, shaped by strong traditions of family, work, and creativity. After training in retail and business, he joined his parents’ general store at twenty, continuing a thirty-generation legacy. Balancing commerce and artistic inheritance felt like “riding two horses,” and over time, art was set aside.
After thirty-five years as a grocer and fisherman, a period of stress and depression became a turning point. With family support, he moved to Sweden in 2023 and enrolled at SARA Academy, where he reconnected with drawing and painting—opening a new chapter devoted to life and art.