Maja F. Eriksson

Ox died that the hide may live; bring forth skin that I may bridle, 2025
Oil, acrylic ink, graphite, and coloured pencil on cotton canvas

Maja F. Eriksson works with oil painting, text, performance and sound, often in relation to power, the gaze and staged situations. In their art, they are interested in how systemic structures permeate the interpersonal, expressing themselves in the gestures and signs that surround us. Erikssons painting is figurative and oscillates between thick fields of paint and delicate, transparent layers. The painting is treated as an object, rather than simply as an image.

The exhibition includes Ox died that the hide may live; bring forth skin that I may bridle, a number of paintings with dominant gestures as motifs. Hands, bodies and objects appear in charged, suspended moments. The subjects are drawn from film, advertising, performing arts, BDSM photography and women’s magazines. The canvas is stretched, folded or left bare, and the paintings are hung higher than normal in order to discreetly establish superiority over the viewer – a manifestation of power in both image and space. In this way, the relationships between the artist, the materials and the audience are also staged as a struggle for control.

The artist will give the performance Världens smutsigaste jobb, [The Dirtiest Job in the World] during the opening of the exhibition.

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Interview with Maja F. Eriksson

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