Edith Hammar (b. 1992 Helsinki) is a visual artist whose most important tools are graphite and ink. Their drawings feature recurring motifs which are in many ways autobiographical, focusing on the experiences and images of gender non-conforming characters, socializing, relaxing, and getting dressed or undressed in various casual but utopian settings. The often large-scale drawings invite the viewer to enjoy the surreal and intimate settings of the drawings. The motifs are often real life situations or personal fantasies transferred onto paper.

Drawing is very direct and can be instrumental to reshape a narrative or illustrate a fantasy. In the piece “Elevator” the memory of riding the elevator with an unpleasant neighbor is turned into something that looks like an erotic daydream. And in the drawing “Hamburger Bahnhof '' Hammar remembers an uncomfortable experience: being accused of being in the wrong restroom is portrayed by exchanging hostile dialogue with an exaggerated mess in the public restroom. The memory lingers but through the drawing integrity is reclaimed.

For Hammar drawing is a platform for the transgressive and erotic. It is the perfect middle ground between fantasy and action. Objects like zippers, boots, earrings and gardening tools are loaded with tension in Hammar’s art practice. Hammar enhances the bulkiness of the jeans fly and oversized sweat drops or tears are dripping down the arms of the characters who are looking back at the viewer.

In 2020 Hammar released their debut graphic novel Homo Line (Förlaget M) in Finland and fall 2023 their second graphic novel Portal (Förlaget M) was published. As of 2022 their works are in the permanent collection of Modern Museum of Art in Stockholm. Hammar wrote and illustrated the interactive audiovisual drama Sexy pants and other problems for YLE and in 2022 the work was awarded first prize in the media competition Grand Prix in Potsdam.

They hold a BA in fine art from the Royal Academy of Fine arts in Stockholm.


Photo by Märta Thisner
2022

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