Telluric powers and astral inspiration

The exhibition in the main gallery present works by Ine Harrang, Dagrún Matthíasdóttir, Gunn Morstøl, Magnhild Opdøl and Kjell Gunnar Overøye.

Telluric means “from earth” as in Tellus, latin for earth, and the name of the planet we live on.
What is our relationship with the planet we live on, and how is it expressed in art? The exhibition brings together various artprojects that use nature as inspiration, in performative interventions in landscapes, projects where nature is an active co-creator, or artprojects that explore telluric conditions such as atmosphere and climate over a long period of time.In connection with the exhibition it will also be possible to see The Climate Experiment a film by the artist duo Bigert & Bergström.

Kjell Gunnar Overøye is an artist who creates sculptural works from metal. He draws much of his inspiration from nature, both from the area where his studio is located, in Møre and Romsdal, but also in other places where you find various types of wild or domesticated nature, such as Japanese gardens. Many of his works can be interpreted as meditative landscapes. In the hilly terrain that makes up what is called the Lithosphere, the earth’s surface, you can find all the substances that become the steel this artist uses to create his artworks. Many of the same substances that we also find in our own bodies. In this context, it is also interesting to emphasize the history of the material that nowadays is taken for granted. The oldest iron that was extracted from meteorites was in its time more valued than gold, the development of extraction of iron ore 1800 BC. And from there developing into stainless steel around 100 years ago. The steel Kjell Gunnar Overøye uses,must go through a long process to become a work of art. In order to patinate the surface and achieve the artistic results he strives for, the artist has developed a technique in which he avoids the use of chemicals that are hazardous to health, and instead uses nature outside his studio, where the iron is processed in a natural way, by burying it into soil, sawdust and coarse salt. After the metal has “cured” in the earth for several months,the rest of the surface process can be controlled by the artist, when the object is cleaned and preserved with an oil-based clear varnish that seals the surface and stops the corrosion.

Bearing in mind that it is these materials that have perhaps made the greatest contribution to our modern civilization, the consumption of steel is also closely linked to the economic development in the world, both for better and for worse, and with all the consequences it entails for nature and climate. My work is in a way, to let the materials return back to nature, by allowing “natural” processes to settle into them. For example rust – it is often associated with something unruly that can break down and consume a material completely, in literature rust is often used as a metaphor for decay. When something settles on the surface, it settles inward, and these are the kinds of processes I’ve put in action. The green copper colors and the thin silver threads can be an expression of hoping and searching; repetitions, or ritual actions in a constant search to hold something firmly.

All elements are present in Ine Harrangs video triptych «May your darkness be quiet, and the light come sooner than you need»
The films are presented as a three part installation in the exhibition.
In this body of work the artist explores man’s relationship with nature, archaic rituals and actions for hope of survival, in a series of performance works that have been carried out at different seasons and locations, by the Surna river, Trollheimen and Veiholmen in Møre and Romsdal.

The first part, Winter, ebb, tide… consists of 300 dried animal ears, planted at the mouth of the river Surna. December. Ebb, lake.
An active action in which man’s hope for harvest through the cycles of nature is manifested in the archaic magic of the seed and the dream of survival for another year.

The second part Rite of Spring is filmed in Trollheimen, and deals with the life-affirming forces that in a short summer stretch towards the light and the skies. There is a gap, an inbetween space in everything. Between people, between objects, between breaths and between heartbeats. The interesting thing is how we make bridges to connect them.

The third part of the triptych Presence of Distance is carried out by the great sea, respectively Veiholmen and Hustadvika. It is a text-based performance in which the artist built a cairn out of branches and paper, which when evening came, was set fire to.
Historically speaking, the cairns are communication symbols that can mean both danger and safety. The large, even horizon that the sea forms has a mythological aspect in that it is changeable and unchanging at the same time. Do you wait for what appears on the horizon, or do you want to be behind it?

Dagrún Matthíasdóttir and Gunn Morstøl are collaborating on a project called Guided by Earth
Their project takes an experimental exploratory form, where the process is important and art is created with the earth’s starting point gifts.
What happens when you put your artwork into the earth and let nature take over? The project emerges from a mutual interest in the connection between art and nature.
Since 2002 until 2022 , 20 years, Gunn Morstøl has been the initiator, participant and head of the public art project Kunst I Natur ( Art in Nature) in Isfjorden, Norway. www.kunstinatur.no
Her practice involve involve traditional graphics printed on ecopaper, or textile old textiles that are eco-printed and sewn & crocheted together into a larger work. She is also experimenting with buried artbooks. Some of the works in the exhibition will be characterized by nature in Iceland, and some by nature in Norway.
Dagrún Matthíasdóttir art practice explore the relationship with nature, society and humanity. The two artists met and started working together when they both attended an art project that took place in Iceland 2008 . Art, Nature & Earth brought them together and strengthened their bonds. Dagrún started a land art project in Iceland 2021 in Westfjords Alviðra Art (List í Alviðru 2021). A large exhibition in the Sheephouse and workshop with the participants making land art in the land of the farm between the mountains and shore, in respect of the nature. It is a continuing project directed by her and will take place again every two years. During a project with Kunst I Natur 2017 in Isfjorden, the two artists collaborated on two works one which was a peace mandala in stone, crystals, corals and Icelandic lava. They have also done performances together involving music where Gunn plays gong and other instruments intuitively and use her voice.

Magnhild Opdøl Is participating in this exhibition with the work Forest Floor, a photography printed on silk.
This work is reminding us of the fragility of nature and the work is also given a role as a cursor pointing forward in time, towards the exhibitions further on in the program 2023 where the same artist will show a more extensive body of work – also relating to nature. Magnhild Opdøl works in various media , primarily drawing, photo installation and sculpture. Her practice touches on subjects such as nature, value systems, transience, representation, natural resources, power and materials.

Telluric means that which belongs to or originates from the Earth. The term comes from Latin Tellus meaning the planet earth. A telluric planet has a solid crust, made by stone and metals, and a core. In our solar system, there are four terrestrial planets, which also happen to be the four closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Astral – originates from the Greek word for star – astron. Astral is used for something that belongs to or characterizes the stars – can also mean otherworldly and can be used for something that belongs to a different level than the physical.

Inspiration originates from latin inspiratio blow into, breathe upon -the drawing in of breath; The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative, artistic. 


Mandala is a symbolic diagram, usually a square with inscribed circles. In Buddhist cults it is seen as a symbolic image of the cosmos and is used as support for meditation.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ine Harrangs work is project-based,and has largely been linked to the movement of time, memory traces and fragmentary collections. Recurrent keynotes are fragility, oblivion, – and an attempt at understanding the indefinable sense of a meta plane within the boundaries of everyday life. Harrang holds a MA in Visual Art/ Glass from Academy of Art, Architecture and Design (VSUP), and an BA (Honors), architectural glass from Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh UK, and 3 year acting Central School of Speech and Drama, London. She has since graduating in 2010 participated in numerous exhibitions and art projects in Norway and abroad. She has also produced many artworks for public comissions, and In 2017 she was awarded a 10 year national working grant. She lives and works in Molde, Møre and Romsdal. https://www.ineharrang.com/

Kjell Gunnar Overøye produces art for exhibitions and public spaces. The materials are steel, brass, copper, silver and wood. The artists goal varies between relevant aesthetic, communicative and functional criteria where I attach importance to the utility aspect and more abstract formal aspects, depending on the circumstance. Overøye graduated from the National College of Art and Design, Oslo, Institute of Metal Art with diploma in the summer of 1989. 2021 he was awarded a 2 year national working grant. He Lives and works in Møre and Romsdal. www.kjellgunnaroveroye.no

Gunn Morstøl graduated from Gerlesborgskolen in Sweden, 1998 and since then has shown her work in about 60 solo exhibitions in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, USA and Israel- Gerard Behar Culture Center, Jerusalem, Israel, Nord-Trøndelag Fylkesgalleri, Porsgrunn Kunstforening, Agora Gallery, New York, Mini Print International Cantabria, Spania to mention a few. www.gunn.morstol.no
Dagrún Matthíasdóttir studied art at Myndlistaskólinn á Akureyri
Akureyri School of Visual Arts(2006) and Iceland university and is actively exhibition her works in Iceland and abroad,
Among others Hof Cultural house of Akureyri , Gunsan Art Center, S-Kórea, Bartók 1 Galéria, Budapest, Hungary,Skagen Odde Naturcenter, Denmark,Caelum Gallery, Manhattan New York. https://dagrunmatt.wordpress.com/co-work-in-art/

Magnhild Opdøl. Graduated 2007 with a MFA from National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, MFA, where she also got a BA FA in 2004. Before that she studied art at Nordiska Konstskolan, Kokkola, Finland 2000-2002. Her works investigating thebalance between life and death through the mediums of drawing, sculpture, taxidermy, photography and video Opdøl has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitionsboth nationally and internationally and is represented with works in private and public collections, among others Hå kommune, Norge, XL Group, Dublin, Haugesund Billedgalleri and Kunstmuseet KUBE.
Oslo. http://www.magnhildopdol.com/

The exhibition opened on Thursday 19th of January at 6pm. Top picture shows a still from Ine Harrangs video Presence of Distance, photo by Omar Sejnæs.