Odenplan Subway Station

Av jord är du kommen

Kayo Mpoyi’s paintings are acts of exploration, shaped through negotiation, mending, and the presence of absences that cannot be covered over. The exhibition "Av jord är du kommen" brings together four texts and four works, woven into a meditation on the process of healing. Through their practice, the artist reflects on family history, the legacies of displacement and colonialism, as well as personal memories and emotions. In the exhibition at Odenplan, Kayo Mpoyi presents a selection of new work. 

In the paintings, we encounter Mpoyi herself alongside members of her family, with imagery drawn from family photographs and self-portraits. Flowers and recurring patterns, inspired by the clothing worn by the artist’s mother, appear throughout the works. 

Using only a small range of colors in subtle variations and mixtures, Mpoyi creates a palette that is both expansive and deeply cohesive. Through layered surfaces, incorporating cut, stitched, and glued elements, the works build toward a narrative that exceeds the sum of its parts.

About the Artist

Kayo Mpoyi (b. 1986, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo) is an artist and writer whose practice spans painting, drawing, and literature, often revolving around memory, family archives, identity, and belonging. Working primarily in oil and charcoal, Mpoyi frequently returns to photographs from her mother’s photo albums, using them as points of departure to explore how memories can be fragmented, reshaped, and reassembled through painting.

Mpoyi holds an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2025). Their first solo exhibition Treasured // Älskad was recently exhibited at Saskia Neuman Gallery. She is also the author of the books En övning i revolution, Kitoko, and Mai betyder vatten.

About Konstväxlingar and the venue

Konstväxlingar is an exhibition series initiated and curated by Region Stockholm. The display cabinet and platform at Stockholm's Odenplan Subway Station exhibits artwork by recently graduated artists from visual arts and craft educational institutions in Sweden and the Nordic countries. The work displayed is often presented in a myriad of different artistic expressions; including painting, video, sculpture, textile and installation. 

During the past 30 years Region Stockholm has presented acclaimed projects by hundreds of Swedish and internationally based artists in temporary exhibitions throughout Stockholm's subway system. Contemporary art has becomes as much a part of the public space in Stockholm's inner city as public transport, accessible to everyone.

Link to all exhibitions (in Swedish).