Karin Mamma Andersson

Karin Mamma Andersson is a Swedish contemporary painter whose evocative work brings together figurative scenes, Nordic landscapes and domestic interiors, often suspended between memory and imagination. Drawing on art history, cinema and theatre, she creates ambiguous compositions in which familiar settings acquire an uncanny, dreamlike quality.

Born in Luleå, northern Sweden in 1962, Andersson grew up surrounded by forests and art books. The region’s distinctive landscape, with its forests, snow-covered terrain and changing light, became a recurring influence on her work. The artist studied at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm from 1986 to 1993. During this period, she adopted the name Mamma to distinguish herself from another student with the same first name. Early influences included the Swedish painter Dick Bengtsson, whose unusual compositions and treatment of historical imagery informed her developing approach.

The artist’s paintings frequently depict empty rooms, theatrical interiors, wooded landscapes and solitary figures. Working in oil and acrylic, she combines loose brushwork with carefully defined details, drawing on photographs, film stills, stage sets and historical paintings. Andersson’s compositions often suggest a narrative without revealing its precise meaning, while recurring motifs create connections between works. In Heimat Land (2004), these elements come together in an evocative exploration of memory and place. While in On Tenterhooks (2005), a group of hikers appears against an otherworldly mountain landscape, where vivid colours and an uncanny horizon blur the boundary between reality and imagination. The artwork achieved £756,000 at Christie's London in 2003.

In 2003, Andersson represented Sweden at the 50th Venice Biennale as part of the Nordic Pavilion. She received the Carnegie Art Award in 2006 and the Guerlain Drawing Prize in 2018. Her major exhibitions include a mid-career survey at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in 2007, and The Lost Paradise at David Zwirner, New York, in 2020. In 2018, she also curated Stargazer II as part of the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo. Her works are held in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm.