Swedish sculptor Eva Hild has added a major public work to her portfolio with the unveiling of Hold in Lidköping, Sweden.
Inaugurated in June 2025, the sculpture stands six metres tall and weighs 2.5 tonnes, making it one of Hild’s largest permanent outdoor works to date.
Hold is positioned at the end of the pier in Framnäs Strandpark, a newly developed waterfront area on the shores of Lake Vänern.
The site is deliberate: the sculpture’s matt white lacquered steel surface and flowing, looping form respond directly to the shifting light on the water and the open sky above. The location reinforces one of Hild’s longstanding preoccupations — the dialogue between interior and exterior, void and mass, stillness and movement.
The choice of white lacquered steel is also a quiet reference to Lidköping’s industrial and cultural identity. The city has long been associated with porcelain production through the Rörstrand factory, and the smooth, matte surface of Hold carries an echo of that ceramic heritage translated into a monumental scale built to endure the elements.
At a commission of this scale, durability is central to the brief. Hild has spoken about the challenge of creating works that must withstand both the physical forces of weather and the sustained scrutiny of prolonged viewing — works that must hold up under time as well as the eye.
The surrounding park itself gained wider recognition in March 2026, when Framnäs Strandpark was nominated for the Landmärket 2025 award by Sveriges Arkitekter, Sweden’s national association of architects — a nomination that further underscores the ambition of the entire waterfront development of which Hold is a centrepiece.
Eva Hild is based in Sparsör, Sweden, and works across scales from intimate ceramic and stoneware objects to large-scale metal castings for public spaces. Her work has been acquired by institutions and public clients in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Canada and beyond.
Sculpture HOLD – white painted stainless steel – in Lidköping, Sweden. Photos Johan Stern.
Images and content courtesy of Eva Hild.