Mia Makila (b. 1979) is an artist and podcaster from Sweden. Makila has exhibited her art on three of the world’s continents.
.
.
A Swedish Pop Surrealist with an edge
Mia Makila (Mia Mäkilä) @miamakila is internationally acknowledged for her candid art and expressive style – a mix of the colorful macabre and gothic Pop Surrealism. There is a balanced juxtaposition of creepy and cute, dark and playful, fun and unapologetically daring. The themes vary but are often explorations of the human psyche and primal emotions like fear, angst, shame and rage – always approached with a raw and brutal directness.
As a self-taught artist, Makila decided at an early age to follow her own path, rather than taking the conventional way into the Swedish art world. In 2007, she got involved in the European Lowbrow Art Movement and it has positioned her as a pioneering lowbrow artist in Sweden. In 2018, she founded ART MONSTERS OF SWEDEN, the first Swedish online platform for obscure art genres such as lowbrow art, pop surrealism and dark art.
Makila has participated in several prestigious international group shows, alongside some of the world’s best Pop Surrealists and dark artists – including H.R Giger, Henry Darger, Ron English, Kris Kuksi, Travis Louie, Ray Caesar etc. She has been featured in international art books such as The Upset: Young Contemporary Art and Dark Inspiration: Grotesque Illustration, Art & Design..
.
A digital collage and the original photo (Brigitte Bardot)
.
An unique technique
Alongside techniques as acrylic painting and oil pastel drawing, Mia Makila is mostly known for her highly detailed collages. In 2012, she went from making mixed media collages to creating digital collages in Photoshop. Over the past 17 years of creating digital collages, she has developed her own unique technique in Photoshop, which has the visual quality of both traditional painting and paper collage art. She does not use AI-generated elements in her digital art and is a strong believer in preserving human storytelling without the corruption of artificial intelligence.
.
A personal mythology
She has developed her own artistic mythology and personal symbolism, with an exquisite eye for bizarre juxtapositions and haunting details. Her art contains recurring symbols like; the eye of providence, upside-down crosses and colorful polka dots. Each piece is infused with personal meaning and charged with deep emotion.
.
Some examples of the significant pink and baby blue palette
.
The use of hot pink and baby blue, also has a significant meaning in Makila’s art:
“I see pink as the color of our inner world. Meat is pink. Most organs are pink. In fact, we all look the same on the inside (with a few exceptions of course) – and on the inside, we are equals. It is beautiful to me. I often use pink also as a symbol of femininity and female gender issues. This is why I often use hot pink against baby blue, to show the juxtaposition between the progressive feminine energy against the intellectual immaturity of the patriarchy. Although I would say that honesty is the loudest color in my palette. To be a truth-teller is the biggest motivation for me, when it comes to any form of creative expression. I find life rather grotesque and surreal.”
.
Inspiration
Makila is a self-trained artist. She has been educated in Art History and in History of Ideas. Her academic focus has been on the upside-down worlds created during the Renaissance ‘carnival period’ in Europe. There are many references to early renaissance art in Makila’s art, especially to painters such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel and Lucas Cranach.
.
.
Some inspiration sources
.
Mia Makila has a great passion for film and TV-series, which is visible in the cinematic quality of her digital collages. She has stated that the moods and aesthetics of film directors like David Lynch, Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock and Tim Burton are important references in the elements of her creative consciousness. She has various artistic influences that stem from many different sources, such as; Disney Studios (golden era), folk art, outsider art, the Garbage Pail Kids, Pierre et Gilles, Frida Kahlo and René Magritte.
.
Other creative projects
Makila has been open about her traumas and is an active advocate for survivors of psychological abuse and PTSD awareness:
“The demons in my paintings are personal and I paint them so I can face them and liberate myself from their existence. If we all did that, there would be less pain and anger in the world. I also believe it’s important to hold on to the inner child and acknowledge its wounds and dreams. This is why I often use child-like characters in my art.”
In October 2020, Makila launched Epilogen Podcast a Swedish monologue podcast about psychological and narcissistic abuse. In 2024 she co-hosted Panikljus Podcast about keeping a mental resilience in dark times. Both podcasts where produced by Makila in an artistic, cinematic tone. She is currently writing a book about psychological abuse and trauma recovery, based on her work with Epilogen Podcast.
.
MIA MAKILA 