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The Woodblock
I am fascinated by earlier illustrations e.g. Gustav Dore’s
illustrations of The Divine Comedy and Yoshitoshis works
with mythical Yokai-creatures. Yokai come from Japanese
folklore and are generally well-known tattoomotives, also
in our western world. Tsukiako Yoshitoshi is one of Japans
later woodblock/ukiyo-e masters, among other things wellknown
for his series Shinkei Sanjurokuten (36 Ghosts)
and Tsuki Hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects Of The Moon).
These older masters of illustration worked with different
graphic techniques including woodblock.
In my woodblocks I work at creating a personal expression,
making use of the woodblock’s technical potential. By using
woodblock at large size I can simplify details as well as
maintaining the woodblock’s spatial potentials, the specific
flatness of my creations appears in this way much clearer.
The shapes I work with in my sketches thus become
less three-dimensional in the woodblock, a fact that emphasizes
the other characteristics of my creations. This
simplification in the black-white design challenges both
me and the beholders to try to experience my motives in a
more complicated perspective.
For the graduate exhibition I have chosen to bring my
individual woodblocks in a context where their common
expression becomes clearer and altogether form a larger
work. In this way the narrative substance of my woodcuts
thus gives more possibilities. In the context I have aimed
at a kind of sculptural hang up, where I work with the
entire wall and the room connected together that results
in a further visual dimension.
The Painting
In my drawings and paintings I work with contrasting
colours and forms as a basic visual expression where a
lifelike, organic and spatial figure meets the flat and often
abstract pattern. The contrast aims at challenging the
decoding of my works so that the subject matter does not
lead to an obvious, automatic interpretation or reading.
My composition varies from a single central figure placed
in a key position to a more complicated composition,
which breaks the frame and the classical perspective in
the spatial construction.
In my paintings I also use different grades of ready-made
materials as a contrasting method for example something
sketch like next to areas with completely finished oil paint
or flatly coloured areas contra areas where I use light/
shadow space creating effects. My working process is in
this case inspired by paintings where one part is fresh and
clear and another is more blurred and less clearly defined.
That may be observed in partly restored works or studying
old works with X-rays so that the underlying sketches
appear. In the Sophia church in Kiev I experienced murals
being restored where the works appeared in a half
finished way that actually promoted understanding of the
narrative contents, because the perfectly finished murals,
to a higher extent, tempt you to be lost in details.
The Mythological
I am inspired by mythological and religious motifs: for
example icons from the Orthodox church, central motifs
from the Roman-Catholic church and Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s
works with the Finnish national-epos, Kaleva and as
already mentioned also the Japanese mythological visual
world/art. A good deal of these motives I also use in my
tattoo work, however here it is the customers who often
decide a personal arrangement of the original, symbolic
contents of the motifs. I use for example Albrecht Dürer’s
“Betende Hände” and have changed symbolism by having
the hands encircle a microphone or by writing across
the hands “only God can judge me” (of a tough offender’s
upper part of his arm). I have also used the classic
Chinese-JapaneseYokaifigures in an aesthetic context
without its classic symbolic content.
The Contents
The motifs of my works come partly from the outside
world, for example the mentioned mythological and religious
motifs, partly from my own world. My pictures may
in part be understood as still picture-impacts in a streaming
mass of experiences and thoughts, i.e. my motifs are
inserted into a more complicated context or progress.
I try to activate the beholder to step into the narrative
context of the work and being co-create experience of
the pictures. With my art I want to create an open story
that combines the motivic part with that of the beholder’s
world as well as of mine. My works are not primarily
illustrations of the closed tales that I partly use as inspiration,
but rather abandoned productions, that have grown
in my as well as the beholder’s world. The narrative
contents change from being part of a firm structure into a
more open and free one. This means that I try to be more
observant of which sources of inspiration that are relevant
in connection with the sensitive and narrative situation
they are inserted into. It has to be mentioned that I am
not quite conscious of what I try to get out, but that this
to a considerable degree happens as part of the creative
process that working with the works always will be.
The Gambling Devil
An old man is squatting and playing dice to himself. It is
dark and raining heavily. The old man keeps losing his
game. On his shoulder sits a devil; it has four arms and a
tail. It climbs all over the man like a gecko. The devil tries
to influence the game by blowing at the dice. All the time
it excites the man to go on playing. The old man continues
losing his game. Why does he go on playing? Is it only
because he is tempted to do so hoping that at one point
he will win the game? Is it at all possible to win this game,
and how many times must one lose before winning?
Why does he allow the little devil to sit next to him driving
his game on him? Is it impossible for the man to see
through the devil’s intentions, or has he got an urge to
have the devil as a partner in his hopeless game?
The old man’s problem with the game resembles other
cases where the same mistake is bound to be repeated.
The rational solution could be stopping the game because
it is self-destructive and purposeless. In the old
man the devil represents what gives him the peace and
company, something he is not able to remove from his life,
although he clearly ought to do so.
In this picture I have tried to make a sort of theatre-scene
that shows a gameaholic act, but actually is about something
generally human. I have tried to portray the situation
by using some of the dramatic modes of expression I have
seen in the Japanese woodblock. I hope the beholders
may identify themselves with the old player and see my
woodblock in their own lives.
The Storks
The motives in my work arise following a process where
certain sources of inspiration are processed and combined
with thoughts, imaginations and other more or less
random impressions and impulses. The storklike bird
creatures have appeared in my mind due to my tattoo
work where the Japanese motives with cranes and herons
are commonly used. At one time the stork appeared as
the evident Nordic answer to the Japanese inspiration. I
then commenced writing notes about the stork and the
mythology and symbolism that is often associated with
stork as a motive. Furthermore I noted the associations
that came to my mind like how the stork comes with the
little ones however, does it ever keep the children and
bring them up in their nests on top of the chimneys? Is
that the answer why the storks build their nest so high up
that humans can not see the babies it keeps there? Does
the stork ever deliver the children to a wrong address? Is
the stork not the homosexuals’ and virginals’ (Virgin Mary!)
answer to their prayers to have children? In Denmark the
storks belong to the peaceful and calm landscapes away
from the stressing demands of our times. And further,
the stork eats frogs, yes and dead birds and animals, the
marabou is scavenger, could the stork eat dead bodies
following an apocalyptic catastrophe? And maybe be
better of compared to now with us? As one can see there
are plenty of thoughts to a mythological stork motive. I
draw sketches to these notes to retain the associated
and occurred visual ideas. I finally have an idea about the
stork motive, which I then commence to incorporate to
the work. A hybrid stork strong, greedy and elegant with a
mythological touch.
The Fishing Boat
Two fishermen are sailing their small rowing boat in a
stormy weather out at sea. A dramatic, dynamic motive
which has fascinated me for a long period. One of the
men in the boat is fighting the big waves, the other one
is the whaler with his harpoon gun too big for the small
boat. They are chasing a big monster like creature. In the
work I try to ask some questions to myself and in that way
to the beholder: is a boat able to cope with the storm or
will it capsize with the men on board? Will the human
beings manage the monster or will the monster win?
Why have they sailed out in a boat too small to bring their
catch home? Or must they simply overcome the storm
and the monster?
Working with the picture more questions than answers
appear. I note my picture’s references: Moby Dick,
Thor and the Midgårdsorm, Round-the-world beneath
the Ocean, the Life of Pi, a poster of mine where some
Vikings have captured something looking like Loke in his
bird slough pictured by Akseli Gallen-Kallela – all of these
have inspired me and are in some way or another a part of
The fishing Boat.