Wavelenght by Eirik Gjedrem, The Garden Room by Ingrid Aarset and Pulse by Reinhard Haverkamp

Artist list

Ingrid Aarset, Eirik Gjedrem, Reinhard Haverkamp

Eirik Gjedrem
Wavelenght

Eirik Gjedrem possesses a deep fascination with water and its connection to the subconscious mind. He explores how the depths of the ocean can reflect the inner landscape of humans, and how the movement of water can shape both the physical and mental realms. Water's constant motion through all forms of life symbolizes an eternal connection and driving force. This theme has been central to his entire body of work.

Water is a vital component and shares properties with clay, the artist's preferred material. The connection with water is essential for clay's ability to be molded and transformed. Perforated surfaces, the use of glazes and colors, layer upon layer, create an illusion of depth and reflect the multifaceted nature of water. Movements, textures, and contrasts in form and surface seek to imbue the works with a vibrant, dynamic, and weightless character.

Eirik is particularly fascinated by the unique state experienced underwater. A world unfolds with sensory impressions, weightlessness, and a boundless universe. Diving into the depths provides an opportunity to sense oneself and explore one's own boundaries. Daily excursions combined with diving into the sea throughout the year offer experiences that can be transformed into his works. This essential morning ritual, an investment in the day, often contributes to solutions for artistic or technical problems or challenges and can turn around a poor start to the day. In addition to drawing inspiration from this, he also gathers seaweed, kelp, and other natural materials, which are used in molds or as texture materials.


Ingrid Aarset
The Garden Room

In recent years, Aarset has worked with textiles in large formats, using historical references from various visual cultures as a foundation for her projects. The overarching theme of her projects involves organic patterns and ornamentation, with a focus on color, texture, and tactility. She processes the textiles in various ways, painting with reactive dyes on silk, laminating, and using different surface treatments to create textures and give the materials the desired character. The artworks are typically double-sided.

This exhibition references an underground room from antiquity with frescoes on all walls: painted trees, plants, and birds of all kinds in a forest landscape of blue-turquoise tones. It belonged to Livia Drusilla, the wife of Emperor Augustus, and is currently housed in a museum in Rome. The room is an illusion of a garden, created for enjoyment and reflection. Aarset has retained the rectangular format of the original room and aims to fill the viewer's horizon. She has abstracted the plant motifs and sought to convey an atmosphere and a more abstract illusion of a garden.

The works were developed in connection with an interdisciplinary Nordic performing arts project led by Lene Therese Teigen, who wrote a play about Livia and the women of her court. The titles refer to Livia and the location where the room was discovered and excavated in 1867. The project is supported by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.


Reinhard Haverkamp
Pulse

As in all natural processes where various factors work together to create functioning systems, Haverkamp's works are based on forces found in nature. This may involve using material properties such as rigidity or elasticity to create tension in unconventional structures; it may involve wind energy that keeps sculptures in constant motion; it may involve gravity as a prerequisite for balancing silent pendulum or rotational movements. The physical experimentation and exploration underlying these works are not ends in themselves but are prerequisites for creating tangible visual experiences. In the silent interplay of forms in slow motion, seemingly living organisms are formed, unfolding in time and space.

Pulse primarily features smaller kinetic sculptures on walls or pedestals that can be set in motion by the audience.

The exhibition is curated by Henriette Noermark.