Collection 4 THE NORTH

KALTBLUT: You use a lot of “magical stuff” in your work,
has the northern mythology influenced your art, and if so,
how?
KATRiN: Northern mythology has definitely influenced my art in many
ways, consciously and unconsciously. I grew up with fairytales by Asbjørnsen
& Moe and Theodor Kittelsen which I was fascinated by from
an early age. The surreal elements in my drawings often emerge from
an intuitive state of mind and the things that I especially like to draw at
that time. I can be influenced by music, a trip to the mountain, a really
beautiful book and so on. I rarely know the outcome of the drawings I
make - they emerge bit by bit. I think it‘s difficult to have 100 % control
of what I make, maybe that is what makes it so much fun to work with?
KALTBLUT: What is the shortest and what is the longest time
you ´ve worked on a sketch/drawing?
KATRiN: The shortest amount of time I‘ve used on a drawing (I rarely
make sketches) is perhaps three hours. The longest is maybe 50 hours on
one drawing where I struggled a lot with a complex composition and a
lot of elements. I used the eraser diligently on that drawing, and I did
a good job with covering all of the mistakes. I almost ripped apart this
piece of artwork, but in the end it survived my anger and frustration!
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KALTBLUT: Blank faces, you use this concept quite often,
what does it mean to you?
KATRiN: Facial expressions reveal a lot of our emotions and state of
mind, and when we‘re not able to see a person‘s facial expression in
any given situation we become very curious of what kind of answers the
faces are hiding. Blank or partially blank faces is a way of mystifying the
characters and make the viewer curious and looking for answers in other
elements than the face. We learn to interpret facial expressions from a
very young age, so we rely on them telling us a lot about a situation, but
sometimes you have to look for other ways of expression and answers.
KALTBLUT: How did you start working on this kind of
drawings?
KATRiN: The blank faces appeared more and more in my drawings
a few years ago, and I honestly don‘t quite remember how it started...
I especially remember one drawing where I covered up the faces of five
children around a beetle on a box because I wanted the children to have
a mysterious appearance and force the viewer to look for answers in
other things than facial expressions. I remember that it was so much fun
to just show parts of their faces and put more emphasis on the strange
elements covering the faces. I think it was here it all started with the
indistinct appearance, and it has become a part of my expression up
until today.
KALTBLUT: Most of your works are pretty surreal, surrealism
always hides a secret meaning and tries to state something,
what do you want to say through your art? What would your
sketches/drawings say if they could speak?
KATRiN: Perhaps I want to say that there are not always answers to
everything we want to know. We have to wonder and make up our own
theories in both small things and big things in life. I can‘t and I won‘t
give my viewers all of the answers in my art, it is made for wonder and
mystery, questions and secrets.
KALTBLUT: What kind of equipment do you use? Do you
have some favourite ones? Like some kind of pencil you
prefer the most etc?
KATRiN: I use a lot of mechanical pencils and I have several different
ones besides regular pencils. I use leads with thickness from 0.3
up to 0.7 with different degrees of soft- and hardness. I especially
love the mechanical pencils from KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH.
They have the most wonderful tools for drawing and artwork! I‘m
considering purchasing a mechanical eraser, but I‘m worried I
would never use it anyway, it‘s just a fun geeky thing to have. I
visit every art supplies store when I‘m traveling, like any other
geek would!
KALTBLUT: if you had to draw your city/country,
What would the drawing look like?
KATRiN: The cities would probably be overgrown by wood
and overcrowded by wild animals and birds which represent
Norway. Such as deer, fox, wolf, rabbit, otter, weasel, owl
and eagle – all of them typical animals in the Norwegian
fauna. And since I especially love to draw the wild animals
these would represent Norway in a rich and varied way
where each animal has its own purpose and qualities in nature.
The cities and traffic is slowly taking over areas where
wild animals live and threatens more and more species, so I
guess my drawing would be a protest against this.