Anna Christina Eriksson was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Both her parents are educated at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. Her father, Rolf Eriksson, was an advertising illustrator and graphic designer. During her teens, Eriksson learned how to create logos and printed matter at her father’s advertising company. Her father taught her perspective drawing and design.
Eriksson is an autodidact but has received an extensive artistic education from both her parents. Her father, Art Director Rolf Eriksson, was her artistic mentor until his death in 2015.
Her mother, painter Christina Rydfors, encouraged Eriksson to start painting in her early childhood. When Eriksson was only seven years old, she helped her mother to prepare canvases. Her mother taught her to mix oil colors and how to paint with different layers of colors like the old masters.
Eriksson builds up the motifs with thin layers of paint and with invisible brush strokes. Through extreme accuracy and an eye for detail, she gives her paintings a photorealistic feeling. But the genre is called hyperrealism. The difference between the two styles is that photorealism depicts a photo, while hyperrealism allows additional dimensions. Eriksson’s technique is a genuine craft and her paintings are characterized by her perfectionism.
Eriksson’s fascination for social realism led her to start an art project in 1995. For seven years she studied a subculture from the inside. The result was thousands of photos and life stories. She documented everything with a small Minox camera and processed the material in her studio. This solo project would later lead to her debut exhibition in Gallery 5 at the museum Kulturhuset Stockholm with two subsequent exhibitions at Fryshuset and The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.
Her method is to go into her projects 24 hours a day for months, to get to know the people and their environments. The result is a personal artistic experience. Almost like a diary. In this way, Eriksson opens a door for the viewer to the worlds that she depicts.
The composition of a painting is created with several different photographs to achieve the expression or mood that Eriksson wants to present. She only use her own photographs. With this method the paintings get a photographic impression but with additional dimensions, which constitutes Eriksson’s artistic brand.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist, I am driven by curiosity. I usually do a thorough research when I’m starting a project. This means that I go to different environments to obtain photographic references. I look for everything from subcultures to places. These environments are my main sources for inspiration. As a hyper-realistic painter, I always use reference photographs that I have photographed myself.
My paintings can be a mix of several different photographs fused into a hyper-realistic wholeness.
I work according to old proven techniques. First, I draw the motif on a canvas or sometimes panel with charcoal. Then I paint a dry under painting with complementary colors in egg oil tempera. After these preparations I start painting with oil paint in thin layers with invisible brush strokes. I always choose pigments, oil paint and canvas or panel of the highest quality.
The main motif is always hyper-realistic. Sometimes I can add a background to the painting from another place, hyper-realistically painted as well, which adds another dimension to the final work.
I strive to convey a feeling to the viewer. I want my paintings to lead to thoughtfulness and reflection.
GRANTS & SPONSORS
2004 Skandia
2003 Fryshuset Stockholm
2003 Hela Människan