About my work

English version | Norwegian version

My work deals with the female body and different sets of human mental states.
The reason I use the female body as the subject of my theme is that I find it
crucial to identify with my work. I use myself and others as models.

The models I use function as tools which have the mission to express one or more
mental states. She represents frames of mind which are of a universal character,-
both men and women can recognize these states in themselves.

I take photographs of the model and use them as sketches and source-material for
my paintings and drawings. My work is not of a photorealistic character; I don`t
fully use the qualities of the photograph. However, it`s all staged in a theatrical
manner with sometimes strong light on certain parts of the body.

I find my work linked both to the traditional and the contemporary representation
of the nude. Traditional in the way I use the human form as the subject, and the way
I handle the painted and the drawn surface. Contemporary in the way I pose the
model`s body, the perspective and the cropping - and also that the nude is expressing
a certain temperament and individuality which avoids a situation where the woman
becomes just an object.

The woman in my work until 2001/2002 is marked by a sense of abandonment,
stagnation and hopelessness. The face is either hidden by parts of the body or closed
in by dark and sharp shadows. In many cases the face is not included at all. The
woman is unapproachable, she doesn`t communicate with anyone or anything. She
is living in her own world where no form of life can reach her.

My recent work expresses much more openness and accessibility, although it contains
some of the elements from my former paintings and drawings. The face is included
more without too many shadows or anything else which might cover it up. The
environment which surrounds some of the bodies have also come more to life regarding
colour and texture.

In the paintings I`m working on at the moment I`ve included the male body.
The man and the woman form a couple, but not in the romantic sense. They tell a story
about disappearence and abandonment. Time passes quickly and nothing should be
taken for granted. The themes are also those of conditional love, the fear of losing
oneself, fragmentation, destructive love, love-withdrawal and separation anxiety.