LISE BJERKAN
Location:
Oslo, Norway
ARTIST BIO
Lise Bjerkan is an interdisciplinary artist based in Oslo, Norway. She expresses herself through painting, photography, and writing. In 2022, she completed an education in visual arts at Nydalen Kunstskole in Oslo. She has also studied fine art photography at Oslo Fotokunstskole.
Lise has a Ph.D. in social anthropology and a master's degree in journalism. Curiosity led her to both fields of study: Curiosity about the world and the way people organize their lives. Curiosity about how people create meaning in their lives. Curiosity about why people do what they do. Curiosity is also her driving force as an artist: What stories will unfold in her next painting?
ARTIST STATEMENT
I create visual stories. In layers. Layers that often consist of a mix of acrylic, ink, charcoal, crayons, pencils, and soft pastels. Sometimes I integrate my photographs into the painting, either as transfers or cyanotypes. I tend to start a painting by sticking pieces of collage onto the canvas or panel. The collage gives me something to respond to. It sparks my imagination and fuels my stories. I have a crush on texts – in all forms and sizes - and often use sheets torn out of old books, magazines, or handwritten notes as collage elements. I am delighted with the way texts and letters both create texture and leave enchanting traces of unfolding stories.
I rarely know how a picture will turn out until it's almost finished. I allow myself to improvise, experiment, get lost, feel frustrated, and have fun in the process. Thus, each image unfolds like a journey to an unknown destination.
Strongly inspired by my background as a social anthropologist, my artistic process is reminiscent of my approach to "the field". The classic anthropological fieldwork starts with few or no answers. Maybe at best a few clues or a hunch. To approach answers, the anthropologist depends on patience, curiosity, and respectful interaction with the local population – “the natives”.
Like an artist, the anthropologist must call and respond to an evolving process. With patience and curiosity. Brick on brick. Layering, digging, and scraping until stories emerge.
