The work of Miriam Bäckström is driven by an intense study of the symbiotic and oscillatory relationship between image and reality in the human psyche. Bäckström works across various media, including photography, theatre, installation, performance, film and written text. Her early work as a conceptual photographer involved technically precise depictions of interior spaces – such as apartments, museum galleries and set constructions for films – where the human figure was eerily absent yet the human presence uncannily palpable, like stage-sets in search of their characters.

With her work in tapestry, Miriam Bäckström has discovered a medium that enables her to expand the scale of photography and, more importantly, to reinvent it. This reinvention invites the spectator to delve deeper into the image and explore the universe beyond its surface.

Throughout her career, Bäckström has consistently engaged with shifting realities. For instance, in her earlier works documenting abandoned homes and film sets, she revealed constructed realities that became the foundation of her approach to redefining photography as a medium. Historically seen as a tool for documenting reality, photography has evolved into a platform for manipulation, embellishment, or enhancement, as exemplified by its use on social media. By transforming photographs into woven tapestries, Bäckström magnifies the motif, bringing hidden details of the photographic medium into view.

This artistic approach also enables her to create large-scale photographic works with three-dimensional forms, offering audiences a groundbreaking way to engage with photography—on a 1:1 scale.