Bland dessa uråldriga spiror
15.10.2020-26.11.2020
Olle Norås' solo exhibition was curated by Sara Rossling and commissioned by gallerist Eva Livijn for her 'home gallery' in Stockholm.
Curatorial text:
"Olle Norås' abstract gouache paintings have a mesmerizing ability to trigger the spectator's imagination and make thoughts travel through micro and macro surroundings, darkness and light, the past and a future we do not know anything about. As a cartography of outer or inner landscapes, Norås' work is open for material, imaginative, metaphysical and psychological readings. The artist draws inspiration from writings by such poets as Rainer Maria Rilke and from nature. Wandering and closely observing the forest – considering nature's ever ongoing processes of change, as well as engaged in forestry matters. Growing up in Dalarna, Norås is also familiar with a romanticized rural landscape with folk traditions, crafts, and at the same time a post-industrial country-side dealing with rural issues and the legacy of the mining industry.
The artist belongs to a generation aware of the complex and challenging times we are living in through several and intertwined crises. We realize that we have destroyed more than half of the forests that once existed on earth. This urges us to find new ways of living on several levels and such processes of change call for existential reflections.
From a Western historical perspective, humans have a complicated relationship with the concept of nature dominated by the anthropocentric human-centered view. Our attitude towards the natural world has changed along with our needs and shifting ideologies. Nature, in the 16th century, was seen as dangerous, unaesthetic, partly agriculturally unproductive and external to us humans. In the following centuries, nature slowly became useful and aesthetically admired, and was used as a mirror of humanity's inner world. In conjunction with the rise and development of capitalism in the 17th century, we have molded the concept of nature in accordance with the current production processes. Land has been improved throughout time for us to gain from it. We have systemized the use of it and the moral rights to claim it. By extracting nature, we have given something to humanity. Landscapes seen as processes focus on how it works in terms of cultural practice and implicate a dialectic relationship with its users — recognizing the historical and contemporary importance of community, culture, law and custom in shaping human geographical existence — in both idea and practice.
Norås' rich abstractions with poetic titles such as Bland dessa uråldriga spiror (Among these primordial spires), Alla tysta varelser (All silent beings), and Något starkt ljus väcker mig om nätterna (A bright light wakes me up at night) speaks to me about a loss and a connectedness with the earth at the same time. They evoke serenity and open up for existential reflections.
We live in a materialistic world, which triggers a longing, but also holds a great awareness that the world – or truths – are much bigger than the ones we can grasp with our eyes. And perhaps that is why there has been a presence of spiritualism and religion in contemporary art lately. Today, nature in our secularized society has become an escape for physical and mental recovery. Nature is branded as a healing resource in our service that can help us to reduce stress, find inner peace and become well – but the forest is neither feeling well. It is time to think about nature and ourselves as a dialectic and entangled whole. We need the romantic, mythical, imaginative, and the personal to strengthen ourselves and to see, the artist says. At Livijn's home, a place for the private and inner, the visitor encounters an intimate exhibition, where Norås' works encourage us to reflect, slow down and turn the gaze towards ourselves and our position throughout time, from the past to the future."
Curator: Sara Rossling