The exhibition “Så langt jeg strækker mig” (meaning “As far as I stretch”) partly considers the meaning of the physical stretch of reaching something you’re fighting for, but also the challenges of stretching or compromising too much, caused by the pressure of others.
This exhibition works as a chronological visual process of my own work and healing in action after sexual abuse.
The audience is confronted with illustrations, that resemble a female figure with an unmistakable powerful voice through actions and unbalanced figurative positions. It forces a negotiation between the classic modeling muse with the female anatomy — and a visual of the internal woman and her sometimes dark life world.
The exhibition opens up a deeper conversation about artist and model, messenger and viewer, subject-object and the feeling of self in body and desire — potentially through genders and generations.
It’s been an enlightening journey with ups and downs throughout it.
Around a year ago, I walked home from a meeting in Aarhus, as my intuition started talking louder and louder, telling me to go to this specific cafe of which I was familiar with the owner. I was exhausted, but the inner voice kept repeating “go there, to there now” — and eventually, I turned around and got there. I first bumped into a dear friend who happened to be there at that moment, and soon, the owner himself came in. We started talking, and he complimented my art. He then told me, he’d actually already told this new gallery, Galleri TESE, about me and my work and urged me to approach them. So I did, and it turned out my intuition was right about something. When I share my desire to create from the trauma of rape with the purpose of shedding light on the whole process from it (and not only the event) she was on immediately. I was told to get back to the studio and create something ugly to get into the process, and so I did.
The first couple of sketches were beyond ugly aa showing my view of my inner aspects and entities eating me up. Then I got the idea of inviting my amazona friend into the studio. She’s a croquis model and just has a way of talking through her body’s motion. As I gave her words, reflected upon different stages of my own process, she gave into it as I photographed her for references. It was such a vulnerable session, giving me so much work to dig into — mostly inner process. As I worked through it and reconnected with the trauma as well as the healing journey, the bricks fell into place. I’d always told the story from my angle, and one day, during this process, I found myself sharing the neutral narrative; he went for my specific door, knowing I was helpless. To think it would take me 9 years to fully realize it was a rape and not “just something else” was a true awakening of my anger, and I finally allowed myself to feel it. When the exhibition started, I was ready (and felt informed on a being level) to finally share the whole process.
With a mix of illustrations, photographic self portraits, quotes, anecdotes and a creative, free curation, I’ve occupied Galleri TESE from September 11th 2021 and two months forward with this exhibition.