Downtown Magazine Fall 2018 Issue

EIJA ÖHRNBERG
Watercolorist
The first time Eija Öhrnberg stepped
foot onto the 67th floor of 4 World Trade,
she found the view almost ​
too overwhelming.
“When I first came here, I thought it was
too much. Like, ‘I can’t do anything, it’s so
breathtaking,’ but then when I started being
here, I saw how different the color of the
city ​is. And that’s the most inspiring to me,”
Eija explains.
The Finnish watercolor artist has been
painting in the tower for a little over a year,
and while her previous motifs have been
Scandinavian forests and green areas, this view
from the city gives Eija a different take on the
concrete jungle of New York City that creates an
almost similar feel.
“It’s a little like walking around in the forests
in Scandinavia, when I come up here. Peaceful,
tranquil and serene,” she says.
“I always walk around and get an overlook.
It’s interesting because from up here, you
can really see how the colors of the city are
changing, how the sky changes.”
She paints on long strips and follows shapes
and silhouettes from various spots of the floor at
different times of the day. The unique 360° view
allows her to catch the color scheme of the city
and sky in the distance.
“You can see when the weather changes,
when the clouds come in, when the fog slowly
takes off, when it’s completely clear… you can
see everything and then the next minute,
everything is gone.”
“When you come from Scandinavia, where
the buildings aren’t that tall and just overall
completely different, this view is really
something…” Eija trails off.
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