Mademoiselle and Madame

Mamma Andersson plays with textures, highlighting the tactile qualities of intaglio prints in the two etchings Mademoiselle and Madame.
Mamma Andersson’s studio contains a rich image archive collected over many years, which makes up the foundation for most of the artist’s works. The figures in the etchings Mademoiselle and Madame stem from this archive: two women emerge from a former time in an assemblage of backgrounds and textures. They hold centre stage with their theatrical poses, and the landscape backdrops set the scene. Mademoiselle holds the generous folds of her skirt whilst peering into a black scrying mirror. Madame is poised and graceful, whilst standing in verdant green grass.

Mamma Andersson is preoccupied with the materiality of printmaking, which enables the viewer to encounter a rich combination of unexpected textures and colours and their physical peculiarities. In these two prints, the physicality is stressed through the many layers of platework: the final motifs are printed from five copper plates, each utilizing an extensive palette of etching techniques.