Oplandia Center for Contemporary Art
19.01.- 03.03.2024
Borgny Svalastog
Borgny Svalatog creates a deeply personal story through monotypes and carpets at the Oplanda Center for Contemporary Art in Lillehammer.
40 monotypes from the time I got in life
The winter was over,
and said: Yes!
I danced with all my might.
The monotypes are like flowers in Mary's rose garden.
The pictures would help me regain the transfiguration from the top of the mountain.
Now they are on display, these 40 monotypes.
It's a love ballad about all the joys, hardship, and a certain despair,
and my biography of our love between Sondre and me.
The light—filled with joy
of our home
and all the celebrations of birth and death
And to remember that love doesn't end.
Each artwork by Borgny is a personal story about her life, her experiences, thoughts and emotions expressed through colors, symbols and repetitive patterns. For those who open up to her artistic world, there are endless possibilities for interpretation. The monotypes have several transparent color layers, and in between you will find stars, arches, notes, flowers and a multitude of symbols from different cultures.
The exhibition consists of two rooms, each with its own unique atmosphere and experience. The large room has the works displayed at the eye height, where the monotypes overlap, just like our own life experiences. The overlaps and combination of colors, gold and silver create both breadth and depth for the experience.
On the floor there are 6 hand-woven rugs in different colors, which also overlap. Borgny invites the visitors sit down on the rugs and tell, sing and listen to each other's love stories.
The rugs are from the series Attraction, made in collaboration with Volver and are also based on Borgny's monotypes. Borgny Svalastog and Ksenia Stanishevski, the founder of Volver, have been working for two years to translate her artistic expression into flat weave. There were several rounds of tests and prototypes until the final result. Volver works closely and with great attention with each artist to preserve and enrich their individual approach.
Borgny Svalastog (b. 1943) is a profiled and productive artist with a unique range in his artistic expression. Svalastog is educated at Vestlandets Kunstakademi, and has an extensive exhibition practice both nationally and internationally. In recent years she has exhibited at, among others, the National Museum, Drammen Museum, Telemarksgalleriet, Silkeborg Bad and Museo Das Peregrinacions, Santiago de Compostella.
Her works are executed in many different materials and techniques: metal, crystal, pastel, rice paper and textile monotypy, embroidery, poems, etc. She works on all scales, from small narrative works to large spatial public art projects. She produces both conceptual art in museums and applied art outside the museum world. Particularly well known are her work on decorations of churches that include church textiles for over 50 churches, decorations and design of church spaces in collaboration with the architects. Svalastog is a Knight of the First Class of the Order of St. Olav (2016).
