Room Under the Influence is based on a photograph of a stage set at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theater. Andersson developed the print by steadily building up color and refining details (for instance, inserting a picture, seemingly of a martyrdom, in a frame that was initially empty). She recorded and dated decisions, mostly related to color, in the proofs’ margins (in Swedish, her native language). Minor detours did occur: a yellow couch, previously annotated “GUL” (yellow), is green in the final print; a small round-top table on the left appears and disappears. But Andersson mostly stayed on course.
Banner image: Detail, Mamma Andersson, Room Under the Influence, 2008, color spitbite aquatint, sugarlift aquatint, aquatint, and softground etching, Gift of Kathan Brown, Crown Point Press, © Mamma Andersson