Mamma Andersson was born in Lulea, Northern Sweden in 1962. She liked to draw and paint when she was a small child, although no one else in her family was interested in art. She had two children while she was in college, and her long walks with them in strollers informed her landscape paintings and prints. Her location in the world also had a profound effect on her art, inspiring her to recreate not only Sweden's scenic landscape, but also theaters that she frequented in her hometown. She feels that her art relates to theater and film because her paintings tell a small and contained story, like one you might see in a theater. She often puts theaters in her artwork to further highlight this connection.
She was influenced by artists such as John E Franzen, Enno Hallak, and Dick Bengtsson.
Still life with vase, Enno Hallak, 1955
Oil on canvas
Children, Dick Bengtsson, 1955
Her art:
Ackerland, 2012
Oil and acrylic on panel
42x90"
She often tries to give a sense of story and of mystery to her landscapes. In this painting she is working with oil and acrylic paints. Her use of texture and layering adds a sense of depth to the painting, as does the color. The juxtaposition of the solid, black suits to the textured, light grass highlights the figures despite the fact that they are set some distance away from the viewpoint. The clouds also show an impressive ability to recall images with a striking amount of realism, while still presenting an odd, ominous distortion. The image itself is curious, and leaves us wondering what exactly is going on in the image. Andersson often likes to work from photographs and then add her own ideas into her work, so perhaps this was a photo of a landscape, or a scene that she saw while living in Sweden, that she painted people over to add mystery.
Abandoned, 2008
24(1/4)x36"
Copper plate
As also shown in "Stump Up," Andersson likes to create images of devastation caused by humans. She is once again trying to tell a story by making those who look at her art think, "What happened here?" In her interview with Crown Point Press, she mentions that she purposefully made this image timeless. She remarks on how the damage to this room could be the result of the house being abandoned for many years. The color in this image plays into that idea since it is soft and worn, as one would imagine an abandoned room would be. The textures are also complex and varied, and I think she does a great job of capturing the natural patterns found in old wood.
Faces, 2010
22x15(1/2)"
This print shows a less landscape-based side of Andersson's work. It, however, does stay with her theme of presenting a slightly ominous, mysterious image. She employs different techniques-- from thin, crisp etchings to fuzzy monotyping-- to show the diversity of the human forms in this image. The format of this print seems starkly different than her usual landscapes, but the strange, floating people look comes into play in some of her other prints, like the one below.
Lou, 2010
15(1/2)x22"
Once again showing her knack for creating mysterious and thought-provoking images, Andersson plays with monotyping and copper etchings in this print. Walking a strange line between realism and absurdity, Andersson presents an image of an apparently handless child walking barefoot through the snow to a small shack. I like the way you can't tell whether the marks in front of the child are foot-prints or rocks. The texture she created on the trees is also very impressive. The yellowing of the edges makes it feel like the image is very old, and the different shades of white help create depth.
Stump Up, 2008
24(1/2)x45(3/4)"
Like "Abandoned," this print shows devastation caused by humans. Andersson says that she tries to make her art interesting by showing the after-effects of something and leaving it up to the interpretation of viewers to decide what happened. I really enjoy how this print manages to be very simple yet still thought-provoking and full of interesting colors and textures. For example, if you look closely at the sky, you can see that there are many shades of whitish-orange, creating depth but not overwhelming the image.
My feelings:
I really love art that is centered around landscapes, but it can be hard to make a landscape really interesting. Mamma Andersson knows how! I love that she can create such clean and still images that relay so much mystery and depth. Each one of her pieces is layered and complex, and it really does make me start trying to think up a story/explanation in my head. I'd love to learn how to add small accents to my landscapes that wouldn't overpower the stillness of the scene, but that would add interest and enigma. I also would like to learn from her use of negative space.
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