An Exclusive Interview with Swedish Arts Correspondent Sofia Lindström
By Sofia Lindström
Artists often spend a lifetime searching for their voice. Marelle Couture found hers early, refined it through decades in the fashion industry, and is now returning to where it all began—with a deeply personal fine art series that is already capturing attention for its emotional honesty and symbolic storytelling.
Many people know Marelle Couture as the internationally published designer behind Hopscotch Couture, whose sustainable couture jewelry and wearable art have appeared in fashion magazines around the world. What many don’t realize is that long before fashion, Marelle was a fine artist. At just twenty-two years old, she held her first gallery exhibition with the American Pastel Society and went on to exhibit in numerous solo gallery shows over the years.
Today, she is creating what may be her most meaningful work yet: The Fish of the Garden, a twelve-painting autobiographical series that explores childhood, trauma, healing, faith, and survival through the symbolic language of fish.
I had the privilege of speaking with Marelle about the remarkable journey that brought her back to the easel.
Sofia Lindström: Many people know you from the world of couture fashion. Few realize that fine art was actually your first love.
Marelle Couture: That’s true. Art came long before fashion. I had my first gallery show when I was twenty-two with the American Pastel Society, and over the years I had several solo exhibitions in different galleries. Painting has always been part of who I am.
Fashion happened almost by accident. It became another language for telling stories. Instead of canvas, I was using antique hardware, vintage jewelry, lace, fabrics, and forgotten objects to create wearable art. Looking back, I don’t think I ever left fine art—I simply changed my canvas.
Sofia: After building an international reputation in fashion, what inspired you to return to painting?
Marelle: I don’t think I chose painting. I think painting chose me.
After everything that has happened in my life, there were stories that simply couldn’t be told through jewelry anymore. They needed more space. More silence. More symbolism.
The Fish of the Garden became that space.
Every painting is revealing memories I didn’t even know were waiting to be remembered. Sometimes I begin a piece without fully understanding it, and somewhere in the process God reveals what the painting is actually about. It has become a conversation between faith, memory, and creativity.
Sofia: Fish are an unusual choice as autobiographical characters. Why fish?
Marelle: Fish don’t wear expressions.
That means viewers aren’t distracted by a smile or a tear. Instead, they have to read posture, movement, color, environment, and relationships. It invites them into the story rather than telling them exactly how to feel.
The fish became every character in my life—my family, friends, strangers, people who helped me, and people who hurt me.
Oddly enough, they became more human than humans.
Sofia: Your work doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects. How challenging has this series been emotionally?
Marelle: It’s been the hardest work I’ve ever created.
Every painting opens another door into my past. Sometimes the memories arrive gently. Sometimes they hit like a tidal wave.
There are days when I can only paint for a short while because of the physical pain I live with, but even then, the emotional work continues long after I put the brush down.
This series has reminded me that healing isn’t forgetting. Healing is having the courage to tell the truth.
Sofia: You have faced extraordinary personal challenges throughout your life. How have those experiences shaped your work?
Marelle: I think suffering changes every artist.
I’ve survived illness, loss, homelessness, domestic violence, discrimination, financial hardship, and seasons when I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to keep moving forward.
None of those experiences are things I would have chosen.
But they taught me compassion.
They taught me perseverance.
Most importantly, they taught me that circumstances don’t get the final word. We still get to choose whether bitterness or beauty grows from our experiences.
I choose beauty.
Sofia: Many people might have given up after facing so many setbacks. What keeps you going?
Marelle: Purpose.
I’ve never believed that surviving was enough.
If I’m going to survive something, then I want it to become useful to someone else.
If one painting helps another person feel less alone…
If one story gives someone courage…
Then none of it was wasted.
Sofia: Your career has included fashion weeks, magazine features, galleries, and now this new body of work. How do you define success today?
Marelle: Success looks very different now.
There was a time when I measured success by publications, exhibitions, and invitations.
Today I measure it differently.
Did I tell the truth?
Did I honor the gift God gave me?
Did I leave the world a little more hopeful than I found it?
Those questions matter far more than awards.
Sofia: Your paintings seem to carry a strong spiritual thread without feeling preachy.
Marelle: That’s because I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything.
I’m simply documenting what happens.
I pray before I paint. I allow God to guide the process. Often I don’t understand why I’m painting something until much later.
Some viewers will simply see beautiful fish.
Others will recognize themselves.
And some may hear something much deeper.
That’s not my doing.
Sofia: What do you hope viewers experience when they stand in front of The Fish of the Garden?
Marelle: I hope they realize that everyone carries invisible stories.
The strongest-looking person in the room may have survived unimaginable pain.
The quietest person may have fought the hardest battles.
If this series helps people become a little kinder toward one another, then it has accomplished something meaningful.
Sofia: Finally, if you could leave readers with one message, what would it be?
Marelle: Never let someone else decide how your story ends.
People may underestimate you.
They may dismiss your dreams.
They may tell you that you’re finished.
But life has a remarkable way of surprising us.
Sometimes our greatest work begins after everyone else thinks our best days are behind us.
Mine certainly did.
And I believe many other people are standing at that same beginning.
La Marelle Couture 
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