E-mail            lovisa@axen.se 
Phone           +46 (0) 73 574 8720 
Instagram     @Lovisa.axen

About

Lovisa Axén (b. 1996, Götlunda, Sweden) is a Malmö-based artist working primarily with textile techniques. Her work begins with fragments: a memory, a created image, or a detail that refuses to disappear. Through labor-intensive processes, she explores how recollections, images, and narratives are preserved, altered, and reconstructed over time.

Working with hand-dyed shirt buttons, embroidery, and textile materials, Axén builds images piece by piece. Each element functions as a fragment, much like a memory itself. From a distance, the works appear coherent, but up close they dissolve into thousands of individual components. She is interested in this shift between clarity and uncertainty, and in the tension between what we remember and what we forget.

The repetitive act of stitching becomes a way of reflecting on processes that are often invisible. Memories are not fixed records but something continuously rewritten, shaped by loss, repetition, and time. Through her practice, Axén examines how narratives take form through accumulation and how fragile recollections can be preserved through slow, deliberate acts of making.

In recent work, this inquiry engages with contemporary digital environments and their influence on perception, memory, and experience. Online spaces, algorithmic feeds, and endlessly circulating images shape how we navigate and make sense of the world. By translating digital imagery into tactile objects, Axén creates a dialogue between the handmade and the virtual, examining how knowledge, identity, and memory are formed through processes of fragmentation, distortion, and reconstruction.

Interest

I am interested in collaborating with galleries, art spaces, and other creative organizations. I am also available for commissions, artist talks, and workshops. Feel free to get in touch via email to discuss a potential collaboration or arrange a visit to my studio at Ateljé XX in Malmö.

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Education

Uppsala University

MA in Archival Science, 2025–2027

Konstfack

University of Arts, Crafts And Design;
BFA Textile, 2018-2021

Nyckelviksskolan

Color, Shape & Craft, 2017-2018

Beckmans Design School

Visual Communication, Evening School, 2017-2018

Hällefors Folkhögskola

Interior Architecture & Graphic Design, 2016-2017

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Residencies

Textile Arts Center, AIR 15, New York

Brooklyn, New York / 12 months
September 2023 - September 2024

Icelandic Textile Center; Ós Textile Residency

Blonduós, Iceland / 3 months, September - November 2022

Artist in office at Konsthantverkscentrum (KHVC)

Stockholm, Sweden / 6 months, Mars - August 2022

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Represented By

Eleventh Hour Art

Brooklyn, New York

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Member of the Board

Konstfrämjandet Västmanland
(Swedish Arts Promotion Centre, Västmanland)
Since Spring 2026

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Artworks In Public Collections

Statens Konstrådet (The Public Art Agency), SWE

Name of artwork:  Deadheading 
Year of acquisition: 2026

Rian Design Museum, SWE

Name of artwork: Schmetterling I & II
Year of acquisition: 2023 
Name of artwork: STARDUST I 
Year of acquisition: 2023

Uppsala Kommun, SWE

Name of artwork: Swedish Midsummer
Year of acquisition: 2023 
Name of artwork: Sometimes I Miss The Outdoors 
Year of acquisition: 2023

Konsthantverkcentrum (KHVC), SWE

Name of artwork: STARDUST III 
Year of acquisition: 2022

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Solo/Duo Exhibitions 

Lovisa Axén: Ambitious Failure

Solo Exhibition at Alice Hair & Art, Stockholm (SWE), 2026

Debutant 2025

Solo Exhibition, Galleri VERA / Nobergs Kommunbibliotek (SWE), 2025

We´ve Been Trying To Reach You

A Duo Exhibition with Lovisa Axén and Carter Schocket
Eleventh Hour Art, Brooklyn, NY, (USA), 2025

The Female Urge To Feel Small

Solo Exhibition, Arboga Stadsbibliotek (SWE), 2022

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Group Exhibitions

2026
Karin! 

Group exhibition at Konstepedimin - part of the Swedish National Craft Days 2026, Göteborg (SWE)

2025
The Other Art Fair: Presented by TAC

Art fair group exhibition with alumni and artists
of the Textile Arts Center (TAC), Brooklyn (USA)

Tell me more!

Group Exhibition with members of 
Konsthantverkscentrum, Malmö (SWE)

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Group Exhibition Curated by MAD. and HUD SPACE as part of 
Stockholm Craft Week 2025 (SWE)

Siden Soufli 

Group Exhibition, 22-29/6, Soufli (GR)

Art for Gagnef Festival

Lek & Bus - Gagnef (SWE)

Pompa Shop & Shapeshifter ft. Lovisa Axén

Parallel Collective, Sthlm (SWE)

Lekke Festival

Plåtpalatset, Sthlm (SWE)

Konsthantverkliga Lagningar 

Group Exhibition, Galleri K18, Sthlm (SWE)

COMA (season 2)

Online Collaboration

2024

9 Contemporary Textile Artists Interpret Karin Bergöö Larsson

Galleri K18, Sthlm (SWE)

Towards The Path Of Totality

Group Exhibition, Textile Arts Center, NYC (USA)

Liljevalchs Vårsalong  with Liv Strömquist

Group Exhibition at Liljevalchs, Stockholm (SWE)

Improvisation & handarbete

Part of Stockholm Craft Week, Liljeholmen, Sthlm (SWE)

! Ateljé-rensning

Group Exhibition, Studio K18, Sthlm (SWE)

The Shape Of Play

Group Exhibition, Textile Arts Center, NYC (USA)

2023

Stockholm Craft Week: Alumni

konstfack, Sthlm (SWE)

Nesting Part II 

Group Exhibition, Brändan, Malmö (SWE)

Spin

Group Exhibition at Crum Heaven, Sthlm (SWE)

Katla #3

Release of Katla, Crum Heaven, Sthlm (SWE)

Lidelsen

Art for Lidelsen, Sthlm (SWE)

2022

Archives

Group Exhibition at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Athens (GRE)

Progress

Group Exhibition at Icelandic Textile Center, Blönduós (ISL)

Exploring

Group Exhibition at Icelandic Textile Center, Blönduós (ISL)

Gustaf Westman, The Pavilion

Way Out West (SWE)

Summer Window exhibition

Konsthantverkscentrum, Sthlm (SWE)

Hjorten Skulpturpark

Group Exhibition, Hjorthagen, Sthlm (SWE)

Art Or Work

Way Gallery curated på Arvida Byström, Sthlm (SWE)

Zoologi at Artworks

Digital Exhibition at Artworks

Spring Break

Group Exhibition at Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg (SWE)

2021

The Ghost In The Thread

Group Exhibition curated by Pandora, Tornrummet, Gothenburg (SWE)

Stab Someone In The Back

Group Exhibition curated by DOTDOTDOT, Stockholm Caft Week (SWE)

Can You Repeat That?

Group Exhibition, Stockholm's Craft Week (SWE)

Österåker Art Hall Summer Exhibition

Group Exhibition at Österåker Art Hall (SWE)

Konstfack's spring exhibition

Graduating Exhibition at Konstfack, Stockholm (SWE)

Tete-A-Tete

Group Exhibition curated by Pandora, Tower Room, Gothenburg (SWE)

Hang In There

Group Exhibition curated by DOTDOTDOT, HV Gallery, Stockholm (SWE)

Salong Sergel

Group Exhibition at Sergels Torg, Stockholm (SWE)

2020

T.E.X.

Group Exhibition at Konstfack, Stockholm (SWE) 

Liljevalch's spring salon

Group Exhibition at Liljevalch's, Stockholm (SWE)

PAY

Group Exhibition at Momangen Gallery, Stockholm (SWE)

Craft Pop Up

Digital Group Exhibition

2019

LUNCH

Group Exhibition at Konstfack, Stockholm (SWE)

Rhythm ON/OFF

Group Exhibition at Fiberspace Gallery, Stockholm (SWE)

On The Thread

Group Exhibition at Art School Basis, Stockholm (SWE)

Open Ataljér

Group Exhibition at Konstfack, Stockholm (SWE)

LUSH

Group Exhibition at Konstfack Student Gallary, Stockholm (SWE)

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Other Works

• Assisted Liv Strömquist in translating her illustrations into textile works for her solo exhibition, Where Is My Mind? at Kalmar Art Museum, 2026 
• Art Workshop for Uncan Art, Norberg,  2026
  
• Art for Gagnef Festival - Lek & Bus, 2025
  
• Textile for Gallery Vera at the library in Noberg, 2024
  
• Assisting Liv Strömquist, Dec 2022 - Jan 2024
  
• Textile art for Murmur´s live concerts, 2023
  
• Vinyl cover for Nils Agnes, 2023
  
• Assisting Linnéa Andersson with mural painting, Dec 2022
  
• Book cover for Simon Magnusson’s Doctoral thesis, Södertörns Högskola, 2022
  
• Stage clothes and scenography for Konstellation; Kvartett summer tour 2022
  
• Mirrors for APLACE Julbazar 2021
  
• Leader of Web Design Course for Master Students in Craft! at Konstfack - University for Arts, Craft & Design, 2021
  
• Textile Patchworks for Åsa Maj Norman, 2021
  
• VÅT Swimwear, Konstfacks julmarknad 2020
  
• Member of the selection committee, Nyckelviksskolan 2018

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Art Grants / Awards

• Västmanlands Debutant Prize, 2025
  
• Malmö City Cultural Grant, 2025
  
• The Swedish Grant Committee: Travel Grant, 2025
  
• Malmö City Studio Grant, 2025-2026
  
• Estrid Ericsons Foundation, 2025
  
• Helge Ax: Son Johnsons Stiftelse -Travel Grant, 2025
  
• Estrid Ericsons Foundation, 2024
  
• Axel N Andersson’s Testament Foundation, 2023
  
• Estrid Ericsons Foundation, 2023
  
• Textile Arts Center (TAC) Partial residence scholarship, 2023
  
• Fabrikör J. L. Eklunds Crafts foundation, 2023
  
• The Swedish Grant Committee; Assistant scholarship with Liv Strömquist, 2022
  
• Gudruns Good Deed, 2022
  
• Ines Svenssons memory, 2021
  
• Maria Lindgrens Sömmerskehem, 2021
  
• Estrid Ericsons Foundation, 2020
  
• Maria Lindgrens Sömmerskehem, 2020
  
• Helge Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse, Group Travel Grant, 2020
  
• Konstfack, Group Travel Grant, 2020
  

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Member

SKF

Konstnärshuset

BUS

Bildupphovsrätt (Image copyright Sweden)

Lekke

Creative collective by & for creatives

KHVC

Konsthantverkscentrum

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Press / Publications / Mentioned In