In a site-specific sculptural intervention, artist Matilda Lövgren makes her mark on shiny surfaces with two new artworks that seep into the architecture of Accelerator. The Strangest Longing in a Lover is presented in collaboration with the International Master’s Programme in Curating Art and is curated by Tyra Wihl. 

To leave an imprint is to mark a surface by pressing something hard into it, leaving a lasting impression. There are physical imprints, those that indicate the previous presence of a body, such as footsteps, fingerprints, bruises, or wrinkled sheets in an unmade bed. An imprint can also be psychological, the process of fixing something firmly in someone’s memory. It is in this vein that Lövgren’s artworks interfere with the cloakroom and public bathroom at Accelerator; an attempt to connect with herself and with you.  

Lövgren’s practice involves an ongoing process of sourcing and collecting materials from her own body, including hair, saliva and sebum. Here, her fascination with self-referentiality is intertwined with the myth of Narcissus, who pined for and desperately pursued his own image as it appeared before him in the reflective surface of a spring. As Narcissus leans over the pond, refusing to break eye contact, Lövgren’s artworks speak of a similar need to examine what appears in the reflection. 

This project is curated in relation to Accelerator’s ongoing exhibition Vera Was Here, and the conceptual bridge to it is twofold. Lövgren experiments with the theme of indexical representation in her own visceral way, rendering the artworks a material trace of her DNA. Additionally, like Bitsy Knox’s series of artworks referencing the veil of Saint Veronica, this project is grounded in a myth that, in turn, explores the difficult relationship between the subject and his image. 

Exhibition: 10 December – 15 December
Opening: Wednesday, 10 December
Time: 17:30 – 20:00 

Free entry, no registration necessary 

On the same evening, Accelerator hosts a curator-led tour of the exhibitions Gravity, Be My Friend and Vera Was Here. Read more

Artworks
Älskar, älskar inte 
Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, 
à la folie, pas du tout (2025)   
Mirror, sebum, Nivea cream 

Still life lingers (2025)
Silicone, human hair, still life installation 

Credits
Artist: Matilda Lövgren
Curator: Tyra Wihl 
Graphic design: Emma Annell
Supervisors: Nina Øverli and Robin McGinley