Artwork: Värnamo Lilja

The ‘Värnamo Lilja’ (Värnamo
Lily) fountain is made of copper and granite and adorns the square at Bruno
Mathssons Plats in Värnamo. Its creator Per-Erik Willö was a painter and
sculptor. He made several pulpits, fountains and reliefs for various locations
in Sweden.

He started out
carving wooden figures in the workshop, then went on to work as a wood carver
in the furniture industry, before studying sculpture in Stockholm at Konstfack (University
of Arts, Crafts and Design) and the Royal Institute of Art (a total of 7
years), which he attended at the same time as Bror Hjort. “I started carving
wooden figures in the school crafts lessons at the age of twelve. So, I’ve been
working continuously with sculpture all my life,” he said in an interview on
the eve of his 90th birthday.

Per-Erik often used a
mosaic style in his works of art, which he called the ‘Husie style’, such as ‘Flora
II’ in the main square in Hässelby. Usually, the mosaics feature many beautiful
colours, but in ‘Värnamo Lilja’ you can also clearly see the mosaic in a more
austere form.