After the turn of the century, Ekstrom continued to produce works in graphite but also began to reintroduce more color back into his work, often gouche or translucent acrylics.  Still relying on layering to create depth, he began to literally add paper layers to his work.  Whether these were meant as finished compositions or only preliminary guides for further work, we will never know; they are however, beautiful regardless and are referred to as “Works in Progress.”

During these years, for the first time in his career, Ekstrom introduced realistic imagery into his conceptual work, albeit often heavily abstracted or in exaggerated forms as can be seen in his Statue Series.