There are, in Siri Elfhag’s work, elements that refer to the European art canon. This includes formal links to the Baroque, Rococo and Neo-classical periods, but with a wholly unique use of staffage and unexpected characters. Highly personal stories and the use of universal symbols come together in a narrative flow.

“In my work, as in life in general, or perhaps in everything, I find that what is most indispensable is the mystery”

The social context – sometimes dystopian, often including vaguely disturbing, even grotesque, details – is populated with animals, humans and a variety of creatures that may have originated in a subconscious mind, or a dream, and the kind of awareness that is usually associated with surrealism.

Siri Elfhag, born 1988, lives and works in Stockholm. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Umeå in 2019 and received the Umeå Municipality Art grant the same year. In 2020 Siri Elfhag was the recipient of the Fredrik Roos Award. Her work has been presented in a variety of solo and group exhibitions, and she is represented in public as well as private collections.