Josefin Arnell

Swedish artist Josefin Arnell’s work extends from her primary medium of video to performance, installation, objects, poetry and drawing. Floating between aspects of documentary and fiction, she methodically navigates the space between exuberance and self-exploitation. The artist chooses to work with non-actors, capturing a rawness that reflects an emotional landscape of unattainable desires, perfectionism and control. The teenage girl, the horse and the mother are recurring characters, appearing alongside clumsy allegories of conflict between the human condition and environmental catastrophe.

Arnell is also involved in multiple collaborations and self-initiatives focusing on feminist practices that include performance productions and critical conversation events for cultural practitioners. Of these, HellFun with Max Göran is most notable as a video and performance project that chooses to be brave and pathetic instead of drowning in shame. Arnell also runs HorseGirl with artist Natasja Loutchko, a platform exploring intimacy and sisterhood that is currently developing its first feature film.