Maya Eizin Öijer’s Nyx Opium Hourglass is a two-metre wide acrylic painting featuring stylised representations of poppies. Judging by the title, it is the opium poppy, which has been cultivated for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. Its latex is used both for its anaesthetic and for its sedative properties. Nyx was the Greek goddess of the night.
Sharply contrasting colours, such as pink and black in this picture, is part of the artist’s visual trademark. Maya Eizin Öijer has long used and mixed media images, computer technology and popular culture as inspiration for her art. Her works are frequently laden with symbols, like the images we are confronted by in the media, popular culture and everyday life.
Artist biography Maya Eizin Öijer
Swedish artist Maya Eizin Öijer (b. 1946) lives and works in Stockholm. Educated at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design and the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in the 1960s and 1970s, Eizin Öijer has exhibited internationally and is represented at several museums, including Moderna Museet, Sweden.
