About
Johanna Åkeby (b. 1998, Halmstad, Sweden) is an artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Art has been a constant presence in Åkeby’s life since early childhood. After years of creative practice, she temporarily set art aside to pursue academic studies and work as a women’s rights activist. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Gothenburg. Rather than following a conventional career path, Åkeby chose to merge her academic background with her artistic practice, using art as a means of engaging with and challenging societal structures. Guided by the belief that all art is inherently political, she relocated to southern France to study at École de Mont Cotton, where she fully committed to her artistic development.
Åkeby’s practice is rooted in her work as a women’s rights activist. She approaches art as a tool for both societal and internal transformation, exploring the consequences of systemic failures to uphold women’s rights and how these experiences shape and distort the inner world. Her work frequently incorporates water as a visual and symbolic element, expressing fluidity, duality, and emotional depth.
Eskapism
Inspiration
Her influences include personal experience, close observation of water’s movement, and early 20th-century art movements shaped by social upheaval. From Dadaism, she draws on its use of art as protest and its anti-establishment philosophy, particularly as seen in the work of Hannah Höch. The role of chance in her process is inspired by Jean Arp, while the experimental photographic techniques of Man Ray—especially solarization—inform her visual language. From Surrealism, she engages with the exploration of the subconscious, finding particular resonance in artists such as Dora Maar, Grete Stern, Maurice Tabard, and Marcel Jean. She also cites Francis Bacon as a key influence, especially in his ability to distort the human form through soft, fluid shapes that evoke psychological tension and unease.
2024 – 2025. Art and French, École de Mont Cotton, Åredalens folkhögskola, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France.
2022 – 2024. Master’s program in Political Science, 120 HP, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg.
2018 – 2022. Bachelor’s programme in Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg.
May 23, 2026. Artist, Scandi Tour (Design Festival) with Cay Collective, Copenhagen.
May 2, 2026. Artist, Scandi Tour (Design Festival) with Cay Collective, Gothenburg.
May 2025. Artist, Centre d’Art Rhodanien Espace Saint-Maur, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France.
April 2025. Artist, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France.
December 2024. Artist, Cave Mallet, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France.
Working primarily in graphite, alongside colored pencil, oil painting, and textile-based sculpture, Åkeby is drawn to materials that convey softness and movement. Flowing fabrics and the subtle gradations of graphite allow her to create organic, water-like forms that evoke memory and the subconscious. Her drawings in particular function as intimate atmospheric spaces—reminiscent of aged black-and-white photographs that carry traces of lived experience while remaining emotionally charged.
The connection between women and water emerged when Johanna Åkeby read a poem about Europa and the Bull while studying in France, particularly a line describing Europa’s hair transforming into sea foam. The image became a lasting source of inspiration in her work.
Åkeby’s drawings often begin with a face that captures her attention, which she then merges with other forms and features as the work evolves. Guided by intuition rather than strict planning, her compositions shift organically during the drawing process, often revealing hidden faces and fluid shapes that drift between the human figure and abstraction.
Influenced by Surrealism and exhibitions at e.g. Centre Pompidou and SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, her work draws on the dreamlike forms of Salvador Dalí, the unpredictability of the game Cadavre exquis, and the works of Francis Bacon and Hieronymus Bosch. While her earlier practice focused mainly on faces, it is increasingly expanding toward full bodies and objects.
Works for sale (5)
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