Emeli Theander

Death and the Maiden

Jackson's Art Prize 2026
Oil
Canvas
200 x 140 cm

“I work primarily with painting and drawing. My practice revolves around landscapes and spaces as psychological and socially charged states rather than geographically defined locations. I explore how the self, environments, and overarching structures are intertwined, and how boundaries between shelter and exposure, nature and culture, stability and dissolution remain fluid. My imagery is characterized by ambivalence: what initially appears idyllic can carry vulnerability, tension, or dislocation. By combining figurative elements with abstract painterly processes, I create open pictorial spaces where narratives are fragmented rather than fixed. Painting functions as a space to explore uncertainty, belonging, and the interplay between human presence and larger, complex contexts.”