Janina Renström

(b. 1997, Nässjö, Sweden)

Jag trodde aldrig att jag skulle säga det här på tv, 2023
I Never Thought I’d Say This on Television
Series of three paintings: oil on linen

Through her paintings, Janina Renström wants to narrate but also to mislead. In her work, everything happens in front of the camera, like in a film. She reworks photographs from old private albums, which often carry elusive significance. Frozen moments, barely recalled by their owner, where the meaning has begun to blur. The indecipherable is rendered in layers of paint.

Jag trodde aldrig jag skulle säga det här på tv [I Never Thought I’d Say This on Television] is a series of three paintings where we as viewers are invited into a private room with five female figures of different ages. The title alludes to a line recognisable from reality shows. Just as such television productions present a contrived image of reality, Janina Renström aims for an imitation of authenticity, but also a relationship between the viewer and the gazes that meet us in her paintings.

Interview with Janina Renström