Nortvedt dresses up the animals and take them to the Urban Jungle
In a World where the Artificial is becoming natural, and nature is becoming more and more Artificial, Therese Nortvedt dresses up the animals and takes them to the Urban Jungle.
The great contrast between her life in London and summers spent far above the Arctic Circle in Norway has inspired her exhibition.
Therese grew up in a small village surrounded by a great forest. Many of her childhood memories are linked to the Mystery and Enchantment of the Forest. The Silent presence of Deer, standing just outside her bedroom window, very shy but alert, made an almost surreal impression on her.
They seem almost pre-historic, which they soon might become with the threat of Global Warming! In a mood of Serenity, they move onto Therese Nortvedt´s canvases among modern air-conditioned Interiors or are lost in the traffic in the middle of the city.
Her paintings of large scale Pansies surround the Deer! The Pansies, the most alluring of all garden flowers, are also called Heart-ease and Peace of Mind. (The French call it pensee, which means thought). Having many nicknames such as Jump-up-and-kiss-me, Kiss-me-in-the-butterfly and Tickle my face, the Pansy represents an element of humour as well as beauty.
Surrealism has become reality in Therese Nortvedt´s paintings!
This text was published in connection with an exhibition of 18 large canvases in the prestigious Galleri Trafo in Asker, Norway, after Britain´s No 1 Artist, Damien Hirst just finished his first sale exhibition in Norway.
