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Hanna Antonsson (she/her, b. 1991), a Swedish artist interested in animals’ perspective, symbolism, and constant presence in various myths and our daily lives, creates sculptural and photographic hybrids. In her practice, Antonsson deconstructsvarious elements of reality, whether atavistic or embedded in a symbolic order, exploring the cyclical flow between life and death, nature and technology, organic and inorganic. Inspired by the idea of transformation and constant change, her works reflect a continuous process of evolution, in which diverse elements merge into fluid, interconnected wholes. The exploration of taxidermy is made via birds, wings and feathers, where parts of birds are deconstructed and re-animated using moving electronic parts or as still sculptural pieces. Birds used in Antonsson’s work have died of natural causes and are often found as roadkills, a subject of further research in her practice. Post-accident car parts or fragments of human intervention into the environment used by the artist are also a contextual comment on the anthropocene.
Lives and works in Göteborg, Sweden.

“It started as a fascination with the shape wings have. I love flower petals, scales and the shapes of bugs. I have the same feeling for big construction site machines, metal skeleton constructions and robot arms. In many ways, a bird wing has a little of all of these traits in one. I just love the intricate patterns of a feather and how it works for the animal in flight. It’s basically just awe for nature. When I first started working with it, I opened up a broad world of different symbolic meanings. The wing as a symbol feels almost seared into the human consciousness and has had cultural significance from ancient Egypt to Goodyear tyres.”

artist’s page

PRESS:

Daniel Lichterwaldt in conversation with Hanna Antonsson for Les Nouveaux Riches

From Taxidermy to Technology: The Evolution of Winged Art in Hanna Antonsson’s Work

until soil unites – Interview with the artist

Interview with the artist in Coevel Magazine

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS:

2024

2023

2022

I wouldn’t touch that if I were you, group exhibition at A house Ark, Stockholm
WHO IS PLUTO, group exhibition at Subtitled.nyc in New York
VARSE – mentally I’m here, group exhibition at Vulkano in Gothenburg
Cautere, group exhibition at FRAC Corsica
ART or WORK, group exhibition at Way Gallery, Stockholm
Lust 4 life, group exhibition at Galleri NOS, Stockholm
The Interrupted Journey, group show in Unterägeri, Switzerland

2021

Being amongst, within and without, group show at Safehouse 2, London
SILENT MAIL, group show at 3:e Våningen, Gothenburg
vad är nytt? group show at Nya Fabriken, Gothenburg
Skogens konung, offsite group show at Groddammen, Gothenburg
Slätten vårsufflé, group show at Galleri Slätten, Malmö
Scattered Rhymes, group exhibition at XY Gallery, Olomouc 

2020

Further down the drain, online group show at soloshow.online
Under rådande omständigheter, group show at Vandalorum
We’ve been sent a strange sign, group show at Landskrona Foto Festival
Aerosol, Sage, Intent: Unlock, group show at Göteborgs konstförening and online
Solo show chapter 3.2: Everything must be rendered perfectly (p2), online group show at soloshow.online
Ride or die 2.0 / EARTHFLAX, group show at Ödledammen, Gothenburg
UGot Distance, Online graduation show at ugotphotography.se
The Thicker the Woods, the Vaster the Vista, group show at Nevven, Gothenburg
The Icelandic Photography Festival, Photobook viewing in Reykjavik