A 2008 graduate of Central St. Martin’s, Andersson is one of the more compelling new young artists to hit the London art scene in recent years; his first series of formal portraits, Stolen Faces, should consolidate his reputation further.

On show at Gallery DIFFERENT just for this week, Stolen Faces will then make its way to the Long Gallery in Englefield House, a sprawling country pile near Reading that often hosted Elizabeth I. While many of his contemporaries will be striving to show to affluent collectors in the capital, Andersson pursued this unusual relocation of the show as he wanted to challenge “conventional ways of exhibiting.” In Berkshire, his works will temporarily be replacing the traditional collection of 17th century portraits that have hung there for decades, bringing his assortment of naturally or artificially disfigured faces to unfamiliar surroundings.

These include the startled face of a child soldier, a Bosnian man with shrapnel wounds, a veiled woman scarred by an acid attack, a sex-trafficking victim, and many others “subverting perceptions of beauty”. A number of works will be auctioned there, with estimated lots for £12,000-£15,000.

“[The series] is about giving a voice to people who aren’t normally heard,” Andersson explains of his unconventional muses. “To have a child soldier or a trafficking victim in that show is the idea of giving dignity to the undignified.”

Jet-lagged and weary following a work trip to the US, Andersson nevertheless exudes great passion for his muses. He recounts the tale of meeting Jerry, a homeless man from Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, who had been shot in the face, his nose twisting over and above his right eye. He was thrilled when 65-year-old Ora agreed to pose for him. She had undergone extensive plastic surgery, and her topless portrait shows off her protruding, collagen-pumpted lips and warped breast implants. Is this not another example of a cutting-edge artist deliberately courting controversy for publicity’s sake?

“For me, it’s always been authentic; I’m not trying to create some fake sort of buzz. It does challenge the art world, but it celebrates difference as well.”

It seems a fair response. Although Andersson’s works depict mournful, often shocking, appearances and expressions, they’re painted tenderly, sensitively; it’s obvious he feels a sense of affection for his subjects.

Andersson has always tried to do things differently. Straying from the “well-trodden” route of other young London artists, by travelling and exhibiting in peculiar venues, has earned him a reputation of a maverick. He is careful not to limit himself solely to the elite East London scene, where appearances at 20 Hoxton Square - run by affluent art-throb Alex Dellal – and Hoxton’s White Cube gallery are a rite of passage for socialite art-scenesters.

“We go to art school, graduate, then we have to be signed with a gallery that takes 50 per cent. You’re meeting the needs of rich art collectors. How much further can creatives take that? Can we be part something bigger? You need to take risks.”

Yet he ultimately sees London as benefiting him, citing its “cultural diversity, and the characters who convene there”. He encountered most of his muses for Stolen Faces in the capital. He’s also used the city as a canvas for his works in unexpected ways. During the Arab Spring turmoil in Libya, he attached a portrait of Muammar Gaddafi to a “Peace Plinth” in Parliament Square, and after Amy Winehouse’s death last summer, he displayed a portrait of her in Camden Town Tube station. He has also exhibited work in many other Underground stations, with the help of his friend and collaborator Ben Moore, 33, Creative Director of Art Below – a public art enterprise allowing people to use advertising space on the Tube for art. As an artist who lives solely and comfortably off his work, it seems he knows how to negotiate the capital’s frenetic art scene, however far he may stray – whether it be to Skid Row or Berkshire.

Stolen Faces runs at Gallery DIFFERENT, 14 Percy Street, London, W1T 1DR, until May 5. It will then be exhibited at the Long Gallery, Englefield House, Berkshire, RG7 9EN, from May 11-18.