Visual Artist
Artist Statement – Mia Willaume
“Somewhere between ruins and blossoming”
I create images that revolve around relationships, norms, nature – and the invisible field between the collective and the individual. My works are a conversation between what binds us together and that which separates us – carried by a longing for connection and community.
I work in the tension between the controlled and the random, where layers upon layers of colors, materials, and stories create new visual narratives. I build upon what was there before – painting over, tearing up, allowing mistakes – and let previous layers and remnants form the foundation for the next step in the process. The layers hold memory and become a kind of underground map, from which I continue to navigate.
I love colors. I use them generously and intuitively because they give energy – both to the work and to myself. Colors lift, open, and connect. Colors, textures, and shapes meet in my works like people: with resonance, resistance, and skewed, vibrating beauty.
My approach is playful and intuitive. I work in series and in large formats, often with many works in progress at the same time. The process is both disciplined and free – driven by dogma, rhythm, and curiosity.
Sensuality is central – my works are not meant to be understood with the head, but felt in the body. They speak to what we have forgotten, but which still lives within us: a pulse, a rhythm, a connectedness. I believe that everything comes from the same substance – and can come together, even across differences.
I draw inspiration from the animal kingdom and organic material: flowers, leaves, roots, stems, and sea organisms. In the rhythm and structural grandeur of nature, I find a wild, intelligent beauty – pompous and humble at the same time. My works are a visual translation of hope and vitality, of light in the midst of darkness, and of the silence that sprouts beneath the surface.
I am preoccupied with how we are shaped – and shape – each other, our surroundings and the systems we live in. My works weave human patterns together with the cycles of nature. They are about balance and transformation, about finding meaning in contradictions: order and chaos, closeness and distance, simplicity and complexity.
I want to create works that uplift. That give energy, resonate and touch something we may not be able to put into words – but which we know, deep down.
When I paint my paintings, I usually don’t understand them in the moment. But when I look back at them, they always reflect my life path, my experiences, my view of the world – and that which is still in motion.
– Mia Willaume, 2025
Curriculum Vitae – Mia Willaume
Painter
Born in Aalborg, 1974
Member of BKF – Billedkunstnernes Forbund Medlem af KKS – Kvindelige Kunstneres Samfund
Residencies & Grants
2025: Artist Residency, Burren College of Art, Irland (27. april – 16. maj)
2022: Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojácar, Spanien (1.–14. juni) Tildelt af Beckett-Fonden
Education
1995–1999: Læreruddannelse, Holbæk Seminarium (linjefag i billedkunst og musik)
2001, 2003, 2006: Malerikurser v. Lene Lundgaard (Den Frie Lærerskole, Skælskør og Brandbjerg Højskole)
2007–2009: Sommerkurser, Bjørn Ignatius Øckenholts Frederiksbergske Billedkunstskole
2010: Kunstskolen Spektrum, sommerkursus v. Ingela Skytte
2011–2012: Kunstskolen Spektrum v. Ingela og Thomas Skytte
Solo Exhibitions
2024
GlobalConnect, København (jan/feb 2025)
2023
Vægtløs Under Alle Strømme / Weightless Underneath All Currents, Galleri Bergmann, Stockholm
2021
Langes Magasin, Frederikssund Kunstforening
2020
FORCE Technology, Brøndby
2018
Kunstforeningen Foyer’en, Taastrup
2017
Galleri Bergman, Karlstad, Sverige
Galleri Backlund, Göteborg, Sverige
Sophienholm – Cobrarummet, arr. Lyngby Kunstforening
2016
TAKT & TONE, soloudstilling, Baghuset, Roskilde
2015
Relationer, Galleri Art for Future, Valby
2014
IN-BETWEEN, Galleri KbhKunst
Uhresalen, Hinnerup Kulturhus, Århus
2013
FRAGMENTS, Galleri LABR, Gasværket, Roskilde
2012
FRAGMENTS, Galleri KbhKunst
2011
FRAGMENTS, Galleri Art for Future, Valby
2010
Pattern of Life, Galleri LABR, Roskilde
Pattern of Life II, Galleri V58, Aarhus
2009
Galleri Abenth, Hørsholm
Taastrup Kunstforening
Galleri KbhKunst
Galleri Bagatel, Albertslund
2008
Galleri KbhKunst
Group Exhibitions
2024
EXIT24, Galleri KbhKunst
Kunst under træet, Vestergade 15, Køge
Højspændt juleevent, PowerHouse, Køge
Nytårsforsæt, Galleri KbhKunst
Hvid & Willaume – Life In Colours, Rigshospitalet, København
2023
CPH Art Fair, Lokomotivværkstedet
Påskeudstillingen, Kunstforeningen Limfjorden, censureret
2022
Summer 22, Galleri Sandberg, Odense
EXIT22, Galleri KbhKunst
2021
Roskilde Åben, Palæfløjen, vinder 2. præmie
Ærø Kunsthal Exhibition, Ærøskøbing
SCRAMBLED, Galleri KbhKunst
ART ODENSE, Kunstbygningen Filosoffen
2020
Nørhalne viser kunst, Vadum/Ålborg
2019
Green Portal, Galleri KbhKunst med Marie Engelsvold og Stine Leth
2018
EXIT18, Galleri KbhKunst
2017
KP17, Kunstnernes Påskeudstilling, Kunsthal Aarhus
Blå Time, Galleri Art for Future
NEW WORKS, Baghuset, Roskilde
Indre og ydre landskaber, Galleri Art for Future
2016
NK16, Nordkraftudstillingen, Kunsthal NORD, Aalborg
KS16, Kunstnernes Sommerudstilling, Janusbygningen, Tistrup
2015
Sommerudstilling, Kunsthal SLIPERIET, Borgvik, Sverige
2013
KS13, Kunstnernes Sommerudstilling, Janusbygningen, Tistrup
Sommerudstilling, Galerie Knud Grothe, Charlottenlund
Roskilde Åben, censureret
2012
Sommerudstilling, Kunsthal SLIPERIET, Borgvik, Sverige
NK12, Nordkraftudstillingen, Aalborg
Roskilde Åben, vinder af 3. prisen
2011
Voldens Dilemma, Agenda 7000, Fredericia
View 11, Kunstskolen Spektrum, København
VISVA, Skolekunst Midt-Vest
2010
Farver Hammers Gaard, Roskilde
Kunstdage i pinsen, Roskilde
2009
Copenhagen Art Fair, Falkoner Centret
Interior Decoration
2023: Gavlmaleri Evolution, Køge
2011: Restaurant SuRi, Holbæk
2010: XML-tekst, Roskilde // BoConcept, Roskilde
2009: Malerfirmaet Engquist, Roskilde
Press and publications (selected)
2013: Kunst uden rammer, Politiken
2012: Fragments, anmeldt af Trine Ross, Politiken
2011: Hvo intet vover…, Søndag
2010: Willaume på Irma-poser // Pattern of Life, Rasmus Humlum
2009: Poetisk råstyrke, Tom Jørgensen // 101 Kunstnere, opslagsværk
2008: Sagde lærerjob op og blev kunstmaler, Alt for Damerne
