As The White Grass Grows by Malene Kastalje

Artist list

Malene Kastalje

Nature breaks down its own structures and rebuilds itself in an ever-changing cycle: frozen, blossoming and scorched. I draw on experiences, sensations and a sensitivity to what simmers beneath the surface. I work poetically and abstractly with colours, shapes and textures, unsure whether what emerges is in the process of being built up or broken down. The material is challenged through analogue and experimental techniques that cause it to change character.

The colours are found in secluded corners, in the withered, the sweet, the toxic, the soft. I enter into dialogue with decay, with currents I can only sense, snow from a time long past and mould that heralds life we do not yet know.
 
My work revolves around the moment when the familiar begins to dissolve and the new takes shape. It is about growths, deposits and traces of something that is in the process of changing. It springs from a place somewhere between decay and transformation. Between the parched, the sharp and the opulent – and the unpredictability and vulnerability inherent in being on the move.

In white, I walk through the forest. In blue, I creep beneath the lake. In orange, I disappear behind the hill and lie down where the snow falls, creating a space beyond time. Everything sinks and leaves threads for those who come next.


Open hours:
Tuesday-Friday 12-6 pm.
Saturday-Sunday 12-4 pm.


Exhibition design: Malene Kastalje.
Sound art: Sixten Kastalje.
Light design: Arthur van der Zaag and Antti Heikka – Udstillingslys Aps.
Painter: Geert Hansen & Co. Aps.
Photo: Jeanette Philipsen.


Many thanks to the Danish Arts Foundation, Danmarks Nationalbank’s Anniversary Foundation, Copenhagen Goldsmiths’ Guild and the Augustinus Foundation for supporting the exhibition.






About the artist:
Malene Kastalje (b. 1968) is a Danish jewellery artist who is educated from The Royal Danish Academy – Dept. of Design focusing on materials, furniture and big scale objects, on which foundation she later on developed into art jewellery. She exhibits internationally in galleries and museums including in Tokyo, Chicago, Bangkok and Münich and is represented at The Danish Arts Foundation Jewellery Collection, Trapholt Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Contemporary Jewellery - Espace Solidor and in several private collections.


About Officinet – the exhibition space of the Danish Arts and Crafts Association.
Officinet provides a space for contemporary crafts and design through exhibitions, prototype showcases, design talks and lectures.

Once a year, an Open Call is issued, inviting members of Danish Crafts & Design to apply for an exhibition period. A panel of professional craftspeople and designers with diverse specialisms then curates the exhibition programme.

Officinet is located in the former Frederiks Hospital in Copenhagen, with the Design Museum Denmark as its nearest neighbour. More specifically, Officinet is housed in architect Lauritz de Thurah’s Baroque building, the Søndre Pavillon, which was built in 1757 – the last pavilion in Frederiksstaden that is open to the public.
The name Officinet also dates back to the 18th century, when the premises served as a pharmacy at Frederiks Hospital. ‘Officin’ comes from Latin and means ‘workshop’.

It is in this spirit that Officinet is run today as an exhibition space. Here, there is freedom to experiment, explore and showcase the very latest in arts and crafts and design. Here, the public meets the artist behind the works, who attend the exhibitions themselves.