With each piece of work, I hope to offer an alternative perspective, a second, third, fourth chance at seeking that which I cannot express through any other means.
The first time I felt clay I loved it. The feeling of the smoothness of it, the texture and how easy it was to form. I was in second grade and I wanted to make a penguin standing on a rock. I was delighted when I found a broken tool I could use to make butterflies resting on the rock surface. Three-dimensional form just made sense to me, and it felt easy to make things that I “saw” inside my head.
At Edinburgh College Of Art, in my final year of my BA in sculpture, I experienced the same instant delight and ease when I made my first sculptures in wax and cast them into bronze.
The sculpture in bronze was exactly the same as the one I made in wax – and yet it was completely different. It was so heavy, shiny and felt almost alive. I was 24 back then, and have continued to work in wax and cast into bronze ever since. For me it is a magical medium with possibilities I know that after 30 years I am yet to discover.
I create work as a means to try and express what I cannot describe with words – or in any other way. It starts from the body. Then there needs to be a process of transformation. With the alteration of an object`s form, there is an endless line of perceptions, reactions and interpretations. The human body continues to fascinate and amaze me. What it can do, learn, and how our bodies can be used in performance like classical or contemporary dance – how the body hurts, longs, and loves.
We inhabit our bodies for such a short space and time. Therefore, I return to the sensation of what it means to be human, knowing that we are all alone and cannot begin to fully understand each other. Yet, it is through meaningful relationships, and love, that we find both solace and hope. Daring to love is the scariest thing we do, and yet, without it in our lives, we are lost.
I thought for a long time that I chose to be an artist because I liked making things with my hands that could give some meaning to others. But, I always had a sense of guilt. I thought it was selfish, and often struggled with the lack of usefulness my work had to this world. It took over 50 years for me to the understand that I need to create. I function better physically and mentally when I make work. It is the only thing that always helps.
I believe artists return to the same themes and tell the same story, over and over again.With each piece of work, I hope to offer an alternative perspective- a second, third or fourth chance at seeking what I cannot express through any other means.
I was born in Jevnaker Norway 1970. I have a BA in sculpture from Edinburgh College Of Art and a MA in Sculpture and Bronze casting from The Royal College Of Art in London. I have worked and exhibited in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Paris and Oslo.
In 2012 I moved to Sundvollen and began working at my atelier at Helgelandsmoen where am still based. I won the Tussauds Award For Fine Art at my MA degree show in 1997 and have had commissions both in Britain and Norway through out my career of 30 years as an artist. I have made awards for The Edinburgh Film Festival, The French Norwegian House of Commerce and for Mensa Norway.
I works primarily in bronze, sculpting directly in wax and casting at the same foundry; Powder hall Bronze in Edinburgh since 1994. I also work with painting, drawing and photography. Throughout my career I have done both public and private commissions, the most recent one was for Kartverket, which was a present from the ministry of municipalities celebrating Kartverket`s 250-year anniversary.
