Destruction - Construction, Paper Art from Pulp

Exhibition at Embassy of Sweden Gallery in Tokyo, April 1-18, 2008

When making a sheet of paper you can talk about destruction and construction. Destruction of the raw material into separate fibres and construction of the fibres into a sheet of paper. Paper is defined as a product of intertwining plant fibres.

Years of experience have released my own expression. The "second skin" appearance as a result of the shrinkage from well hydrated pulps as well as layer by layer of different beatings of more or less shrinking pulps give me endless possibilities for my 2-D and 3-D works.

But - What is the message? I cannot govern the impression in the viewers mind. As an example, let me tell you about my installation Orifices.

As moulds for Orifices I have used effluent tubes borrowed from two water and wastewater workers in a road construction near my house. These rigid moulds help me governing the shrinking process.

From an orifice something is coming out. What is this flow? Maybe bad or good news? Maybe bad or good things? Perhaps the pipe is clogged resulting in nothing coming out. Is this for bad or for good? This is depending on the receiver.

As an artist you can also speak of a counter-flow many times. Artworks are hopefully resulting in reputation and in money - but usually the contrary!

Destruction or construction, flow or counter-flow could be catchwords for this exhibition. Destruction of the raw material into separate fibres and construction of the fibres into a sheet of paper are the ways of obtaining the material for my works. But what is coming out when the flow of the tiny fibres in my pulp is gradually arrested, when the sheet of paper is allowed to dry? The frozen stream is showing something.

What you see - just see it with an open mind.

scroll to the right