Artist Ulrika Andersson shares the privacy and personalities of some of her closest relatives in a new series of portraits.
Ulrika Andersson is an artist inspired by capturing moments, intended to make the viewer aware of their place as voyeur. The way in which she works acts as double-documentation: first she photographs her models, and then she paints those photographs. The often melancholy scenes, reminiscent of Edward Hopper, are juxtaposed against the sensuality of seeing into a moment of a person’s life, always awash with bold colours and original composition. Usually working autobiographically, and then manipulating the set herself, “Cousins” marks a shift in her traditional method.

Of her approach this time, Andersson said: “Much like they say to writers, ‘write what you know’, I began to think about what I know, and at the time I was spending an enormous amount of time with my cousins. We are all really close and I consider them amongst my best friends. So I decided to do portraits of them. I told them that I would come to their homes and take pictures of them in their bedrooms and they could do whatever they wanted, have whoever they wanted with them, wear what they liked. They all approached it differently.”

In this series of portraits, the very precise process of Ulrika Andersson is not her responsibility. There is always something different about the road leading to her goal, she said, allowing each of her works to retain an experimental, exploratory subtext. This time her cousins, all aged 14 – 31 years, orchestrated the scenes that Andersson would paint. Whilst sharing with the viewer a biographical illustration of her cousins, she is at the same time sharing with her cousins her creative and artistic process – something seldom seen. Even without paintings, the intimate family ties are evident in her cousins’ inclusion in what is usually a very private thing for an artist.

The portraits are deeply personal. Set in the most private and intimate of spaces, the bedroom, each of her cousins is made unique by all aspects of the scene. The lighting is dramatic, the colours bold and bright. Andersson’s technique with line is distinctly feminine, soft and subtle, yet evoking strength in her realist style. Her passion is clear: “I'm incredibly proud to be part of this group of women. I think they are beautiful. If I love a piece of clothing, an object, or a person, by painting them I kind of make them my own.”