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Overview
2019
Filler on board, oak frame
Unique Work
Dimensions: 63cm (H) x 43cm (W) x 5cm (D) / 24.8" (H) x 16.9" (W) x 2" (D)
Note: Actual colours may vary due to photography & computer settings.
Artist Statement
Every work in the series PLEDGES has a title in form of a promise
completing the sentence ”I pledge to...”. The promises are made by voluntary participants except for the first one, which is made by the artist.
The promises are written on the back and sealed by a line drawned in the wet filler.
Pledges is about the difference between words and actions. To give your word and stand by it changes reality. Faith in a promise depends on the context in which it is given. Which institutions that sanction it. A marriage. A testimony. A contract.
Can art give power to a promise? Can you believe in a promise sealed in a work of art?
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Artist Profile
Born: 1969
Hometown: Stockholm
Based in: Oslo
I am interested in process-based painting and the profound human solitude. While exploring one thing, I sometimes try to formulate something about the other.
My work is made from construction filler in oak frames. I have developed a unique technique, where I insert 6 mm thick layers of grey and white filler into the frame like intarsia, instead of on top of each other as in conventional painting. The result gives a graphic expression that at the same time has tactile materiality. I use some simple but clearly defined methods to apply the filler in the frame. These limit the expression of cognitively controlled processes, thus opening an opportunity to reveal something unknown.
They often take the form of series or installations that extend into the room.
I base my work on the notion of a primary alienation in the human subject. By using painting, I want to formulate something around this lack, or the desire, integrated into our perception of reality. I want to explore whether the problem can illuminate other forms of social and cultural alienation—for example, privileges, class, racism and xenophobia. In short, different types of distances between people.
I have previously shown works in Scandinavia at Konsthallen Trollhättan, Konsthallen Lokstallet, Konstepidemin, Kristiansands Konsthall, Akershus Kunstsenter, Trondheim Senter for Samtidskunst och Tenthaus Oslo. I am educated in Norway at Kunstakademiet in Trondheim and live and work in Oslo.
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