This is one of my most personal artworks – “MISTY MEMORY”, a digital piece from 2012.
Tag: pop surrealism
The uncompromised expression
When I am working with my art – or anything creative – I am only interested in finding powerful and strong expressions. I always start with the eyes – if there’s no genuine expression in the eyes or if they lack intensity, I won’t finish that piece and I just move on to another project. As soon as I start to compromise my vision, I end up feeling lost – and when the creativity turns into a struggle I lose the joy of being part of it. Sometimes it feels like starting a new painting on a blank canvas is like taming a beast (the canvas being the beast of ‘nothingness’ or something dead and empty).
The Mask by Mia Makila, 2009
Working on “The Mask”, 2009
I’ve always disliked a blank space – especially an empty white space. My desire is to fill the void, to make an expression, a statement, to tell a story and to create meaning where there seems to be no meaning at all. perhaps that’s why I like to fill the white canvas with a dark background. The darkness can hold all kinds of secrets within that black space – but something all white -without any hope of details inside, really creeps me out.
My art is extremely personal and even though I don’t use my own face in my Lolita demons, they are all part of me and my fears, my rage, my pain and my inner voice. They are all self portraits in a way.
Sperm Wounds is my rage, Scrollan is an expression of the helplessness I’ve felt in my past, Stigmata is about my physical hell.
!["Stigmata"by Mia Makila. 2009 [acrylic on canvas]](https://i0.wp.com/miamakila.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stigmata.jpg?w=616&h=747&ssl=1 "stigmata")
“Stigmata”by Mia Makila. 2009 [acrylic on canvas]
The stories I share in my art, lays in the emotional expressions of my demons – especially visible in the eyes, smile and body language. The portraits are simple in the compositions, there aren’t many details in the background, if any at all. But if you make eye contact with the characters, you will find endless shades of emotions and details in there.
Detail of Fire Head
Making “Sex Monster”, 2013
“Sex Monster”, 2013
Through my stories and artistic expression, you get to share my emotions and the memories of humiliation, sadness and horror – and what it’s like to be a human soul in a world where heaven and hell are both centered inside our minds and hearts – and also outside ourselves.
In every corner of life.
Self portrait, 2011
The artworks of 2015
July – Working on “Sperm Wounds” – the first painting in almost 5 years!
I haven’t really been painting since 2010. It’s been a long break (and a long journey back from the blockages) and I’ve missed it terribly. My work in 2015 is dominated by two concepts – rage and home. There are a lot of floating or flying houses, perhaps because I spent the first half of the year without a home of my own. And my Lolita demons are not scared anymore – they are furious! They are taking back whatever people took from them, especially their sexuality and humiliation. I am slowly healing and it’s reflected in my art as well.
Artworks from 2015
!["Iceland" by Mia Makila. 2015 [digital]](https://i0.wp.com/miamakila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/iceland_colorful.jpg?w=127&h=174&ssl=1 "iceland_colorful")
“Iceland” by Mia Makila. 2015 [digital]
“Strings Attached” by Mia Makila, 2015
“Out of the Nothing Box” by Mia Makila, 2014
“NOT A PHALLUS” BY MIA MAKILA – 2015 (DIGITAL) Edition of 5, 40 x 44 cm, PRICE: 7500 SEK
“MY NEW SKIN” BY MIA MAKILA – 2015 (DIGITAL MIXED MEDIA) Edition of 5, 42,5 x 40 cm, PRICE: 8500 SEK
“His Wet Dream” by Mia Makila (acrylic on wooden panel), 2015
The inspiration for 2015’s artworks
The inspiration for my art this year has been coming from a lot of different sources – old votive paintings from Mexico with the addition of words and stories at the bottom, the American folk artist Grandma Moses and my own art, especially from 2008-2009, just before my long hiatus due to the creativity crises.
Grandma Moses
Votive painting from Mexico
The Mask by Mia Makila, 2009
“That Girl” by Mia Makila, 2008, acrylic on cardboard. Unavailable.
Charlotte Rampling’s eyes are my new obsession and inspiration
Rita Lundqvist
The old fashioned style for baby hats or nightcaps are a perfect addition in my art, I found this picture on Facebook and it’s a perfect hat for a demon to wear
Gregory Jacobsen – always a source of inspiration
Pictures of weird veins and skin conditions – great inspiration for the texture of my demons
The unfinished works of 2015
Sometimes I start some projects but never finish them – perhaps because they lack something or because they feel flat and dull.
I’m so looking forward to the new year – and I can’t wait to be painting, drawing, making digital art, writing and expressing myself in every artistic way possible! Happy new year everyone – 2016 will be an amazing opportunity to be courageous and confident in our work, and empathetic and kind in our hearts. ❤
2015 – My year in pictures
2015 has been one of the toughest and at the same time one of the best years of my life. It’s been an important year of rediscovering my creativity, exploring new concepts as true love, lasting happiness, freedom and the first steps to independence. I’ve grown so much this year, I don’t even feel like I am the same person as I was in January – perhaps mostly because I’ve slowly been taking back the control of my life and ended some toxic and destructive relationships that were draining me. Now, I’ve become a minimalist in the sense of what I have in my life – only good things and people who makes me happy and inspired are allowed to stay in my life, the rest has to go.
January – a frozen world in so many ways. Still homeless and living with my parents. I miss having a life outside my own head.
Vulnerable.
Fighting my past. It’s painful – but I’m winning. Big time.
February – with my little niece Lilith in Stockholm.
Breaking patterns and ending toxic relationships.
“Strings Attached”, 2015
A new kind of happiness.
Working on “The Fourth Eye”
March – Fragile but strong.
April – With Lilith
May – Signing the contract to my own apartment – I am not ‘homeless’ anymore.
June – I finally move into my new place! My new life is about to begin.
My new studio.
Taking late night walks.
I am starting to feel a new sense of freedom that I’ve never felt before.
Working with my fear makes me overcome a lot of issues. It’s hard work but at least I am trying.
But sometimes, the fear is winning too…
Article.
Summer sunshine – inside and outside.
I don’t get the name of the pizza place in my neighborhood – “Why not pizza?”
Meeting my best girlfriend Nanci when she’s visiting Sweden over the summer.
Lilith (digital)
August – The river close to where I live. I have left a lot of old heartache by this river. It will never return.
Working on “His Wet Dream”
On my way – to many new destinations.
Stormy weathers. Stockholm is being a drama queen when I return to print some art.
September – I’ve seen so many amazing documentaries this year! I especially loved “The Jinx” (documentary series), “Making a Murderer” (also a series) and the “Serial Podcast” – but other good documentaries were “Twinsters”, “Iris”, “What happened, Miss Simone?” and “The Wolfpack”.
Making plans.
Feeling exhausted – it’s been such an intense year already.
Doing the impossible.
October – Meeting my big love – Johnny, my brand new American boyfriend. We have been best friends for almost three years already. I feel so lucky.
Johnny. He is just made of love.
I feel so at home.
Peace of mind.
We are a team. I’ve never been in a team before.
November – My health is bad but my heart is finally healing.
Tears with engines.
December – A frosty view from my studio window. The big cemetery is covered in coldness but I feel so warm inside.
Back to work after a long break since the summer.
My video messages from 2015:
The Self-Saboteur
“The Self-Saboteur” by Mia Makila, 2015, mixed media on wooden panel.
The stories behind my art: “Another Place”
Another Place, 2007 – digital
2007 was one of the best years of my life. I was totally lost in that magical flow of making art, experimenting, exploring and being creative almost all hours of the day. I was having fun and trying out new techniques and styles.
Only 2 years earlier, I was only painting (see photo below) – and now I was making collages, using mixed media, paintings, drawings and also digital pieces.
A painting from 2005 (“Cries and Whispers” – referring to the 1972 film by Ingmar Bergman.)
Another Place was my first real digital artwork and I finished it in late 2007. I had only used PhotoShop to edit the photos and selfies for my blog for a couple of years, but I had no real training, just playing around and trying stuff out. While making Another Place I could feel how I was growing as an artist and that the digital media was just right for me and my artistic expression. I was just having so much fun!
The work in progress.
Another Place premiered in my solo show at Hera Gallery in Stockholm in January 2008:
And then one month later it showed up in my solo show in Reijmyre outside my hometown:
Even though I had so much fun making Another Place, I made it during one of the hardest times in my life and I was deeply depressed. That’s what the piece is about – that other place in life where only darkness rule.
When I finally came out of my depression, I thought it would be fun to make a new version of Another Place, because I had reached another place in my life. A place where light ruled, and where the colors were brighter. So I created a second version of it in 2012.
Another Place (light version)
Another Place (light version) in Inked Magazine, 2014 and the darker version in Calle Magazine from 2010.
Mark Bryan
All artworks by Mark Bryan
My very first drawing [age 1]
The stories behind my art: “Grim Reaper – [Daisy Adair]”
“Grim Reaper – [Daisy Adair]” by Mia Makila, 2007
I remember making Grim Reaper – [Daisy Adair] in late 2007 very clearly, because it was the first painting where I felt like I had found something new and exciting in my color palette. I had gained weight due to my depression at the time, and I was totally hooked on sugar and candy and it’s reflected in my art as well – in the palette and in the sugary and playful tone of the style.
a contemporary grim reaper – Daisy Adair, Dead like me (2003)
Portrait of a young Marie Antoinette (1762)
The inspiration for Grim Reaper came from unexpected sources: the modern grim reapers of Dead Like Me, an american comedy-horror series that I was watching at the time, Marie Antoinette, Mark Ryden, Disney – and one day I was making whipped cream for a cake, and I just looked down at the perfect white ripples in the bowl and got inspired by the texture – so I used it in the face, and it has become a trademark for my art, the wrinkly demon faces.
the texture of whipped cream
work in progress shots
My Grim Reaper painting has been featured many times in art magazines, even on the cover of Swedish horror magazine Eskapix and the French art magazine – Freak Wave (but notice how they used an early version of the painting, without the color splashes).
THE STORY BEHIND MY ART: “DADDY’S SECRET”
I painted “Daddy’s Secret” in 2007. It is painted with acrylics on canvas and measures 50 x 50 cm. I made it for an art show in Hamburg, Germany – Don’t Wake Daddy II that I was part of in the end of the same year. I tried to play with the ‘Daddy’ theme but I wanted to make it less obvious, more ambiguous and mysterious.
Work in progress:
I was inspired by old stories about witches and how they use objects, relics or animals as muses, things that makes them powerful and how their power are connected to something outside themselves, but at the same time, as part of themselves. I found it fascinating.
The painting was sold even before the opening of the group show “Don’t Wake Daddy II” at Feinkunst Krüger in Hamburg. It was a great success at the show and it was my debut painting in the context of the lowbrow and pop-surrealism community.
The painting is featured in many international art magazines and art books.
And here’s a cool tattoo based on my artwork (on a swedish man’s arm):
And Daddy’s Secret has even had some fan art imitations:
(made by Steppingondaisys on DeviantArt)
It is one of my favorite paintings I’ve ever done.
MIA MAKILA 
