Mirer
- C-print
- Mar 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 24
Artists: Anton Elfving, Michaela Vega Hansson, Ingrid Jacobsen, Zoi Johansson, Gethin Wyn Jones, Ingrid Segring, Nicolás Wormull
18.03.2026 - 25.04.2026, Bio Aspen
Curator: Koshik Zaman
During a studio visit with Zoi Johansson, she spoke about a recurring nightmare that haunted her for over a year. In the dream, she finds herself in a house where the walls slowly dissolve—and she along with them. My thoughts quickly turned to the late David Lynch, as they often do when something evokes an eerie and uncanny feeling. In a conversation with another artist, Gethin Wyn Jones, it turned out that their film Mirer which lends the exhibition its title, was recorded during an artist residency at Tyneside Cinema—a place quite similar to Aspen, both in terms of programming and legacy. This historic art house cinema in Newcastle was also founded by none other than Ridley Scott’s great-uncle.
Jones’s film title is derived from the French word “mirer” (“to observe”), which in turn originates from the Latin “mirari,” meaning “to marvel.” And perhaps that is the essential quality of cinema: its ability to captivate audiences with stories that reflect both realities and unreality. The exhibition at Bio Aspen was never intended to be about film, even though its moving-images play an important role. It is however presented with an appreciation of the venue, and has organically grown in close dialogue with the seven artists and Kasia Syty. While the body of work is eclectic—encompassing relief, sculpture, painting, video, and photography—it is hoped that the works, some made specifically for the exhibition and site in mind, are united by a sense of kinship that reflects Aspen as a site of drama.
"In Mirror Error, the camera circles around faceless figures in a staged room. The black-and-white 16 mm film, in a 4:3 format, alludes to older film traditions and emphasizes its own materiality through loops, repetitions, and visible cuts. The illusion is built up only to be revealed as a construction—flat surfaces, paper figures, props—and the work thereby exposes how image, light, and editing shape our perception" - Ingrid Jacobsen
“The film departs from the film camera itself—an ARRIFLEX 416—and explores it both as a tool and as an object. Through a choreography of extreme close-ups and slow motion, the work evokes the history of the film medium and its unique ability to captivate the gaze.” - Gethin Wyn Jones
"In my practice, I often return to the notion of a surface or an image, its agency of illusion, and how to transcend it. I could image-search for “fake smile” for days, steal the early results that the algorithms hand me, alter the images, and then study them through painting or drawing. To paint and draw is a form of image worshipping for me" - Ingrid Segring
"My painting is seated somewhere between figuration and abstraction. I work wet-on-wet in oil, allowing the material itself to influence the image as it emerges. Within the paintings, interior and exterior elements merge into a kind of body—not directly a human one, but rather a hybrid of human, plant, cartoon, animal, and immaterial things such as memory, language, and fantasy… all mixed and stirred together in the pot that painting is for me" - Anton Elfving
Participating artists:
Anton Elfving (b. 1986), based in Stockholm. Artist working primarily with painting, MFA (2013) from the Royal Institute of Art.
Michaela Vega Hansson (b. 1994), based in Stockholm. Third-year student at the Royal Institute of Art, working with painting and sculpture.
Ingrid Segring (b. 1994), based in Stockholm. Educated at Konstfack (2021) and Pernby School of Painting (2022–2024), working with painting and drawing.
Ingrid Jacobsen (b. 1996), based in Malmö. Recent graduate from Malmö Art Academy (MFA 2025), working with photography.
Zoi Johansson (b. 1989), based in Stockholm. Recent graduate from Konstfack (MFA 2025) with a multidisciplinary practice including poetry, relief, performance and sculpture.
Gethin Wyn Jones (b. 1984), based in Stockholm. Artist with an MFA from Newcastle, working with video, sculpture, and installation.
Nicolás Wormull (b. 1977), lens-based artist based between Valparaíso and Stockholm.
A special thanks to Kasia Syty, event coordinator, and the entire team at Aspen, and Giulia Cairone for documenting the show.
In connection to the exhibition, a new iteration of the poetry evening Ät mina ord will be hosted by Zoi Johansson and Kristina Gustafsson with invited poets on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The exhibition is also part of Aspen’s program for the annual Kulturnatt Stockholm 2026 on Saturday, April 18.