Calmfors

Helena Calmfors is an artist whose work is inspired by the archetype of the dominant woman - a role with which she identifies and yet gently subverts. This is her debut monograph.

Helena Calmfors is a New York-based artist and performer whose work is inspired by the archetype of the dominant woman. It is a role with which she identifies and yet gently subverts by introducing ’soft’ elements such as flowers into the typically ’hard’ aesthetic vocabulary of domination. Central to her work is the feminist belief in the right to own one’s body; she also explores the theme of reclaiming identity through hierarchical power play. The act of creating intimate scenes and experiences is present in all aspects of her art, ranging from performance to watercolor paintings, and digital and Polaroid photography. She uses instant photography as a way of representing the ephemerality of performance and the fleeting intimacy of the dominant/submissive relationship. With an introduction by the Indian-American artist, Ankita Mishra, Forget Me Not is Calmfors’ debut monograph.

Helena Calmfors is originally from Sweden but has lived and worked in New York since 2014. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in the United States, including in 2024: Pride Reflected, Saatchi Art (online exhibit); Dress Up, at the Harsh Collective; Love in the Time of Chaos, at The Locker Room; and The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn. Ankita Mishra is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. As a first-generation Indian-American, born and raised between two cultures, her work is guided by potent memories, generational conversation and cultural rediscovery. Her primary interest is in defining the ways we express identity, in tandem with the ways we struggle to connect with it.