Artwork
#set up
#John Ok. Raustein
#sculpture
#textiles
“When all the pieces we all know turns into unusual (reactivated outlines) terracotta/sweet” (2023). Picture by Øystein Thorvaldsen. All photographs © John Ok. Raustein, shared with permission
What’s the scent of terracotta? Of mauve? Artist John Ok. Raustein invitations these questions on his architectural sculptures and installations lined in monochromatic textiles. Utilizing a singular shade emphasizes the various textures and bodily qualities of his works and asks viewers to think about how such hues would unconventionally interact the senses. “I usually draw on reminiscences from my very own childhood, searching for to evoke sensations, colours, sounds, smells, and locations to visualise a bodily sense of existential uneasiness,” he shares.
From his studio in Oslo, Raustein builds large-scale constructions that create immersive, summary environments. He blends inflexible frames with comfortable, pliable cotton, the latter of which cloaks the skeletal elements and seems as bulging sacks, weavings, and strips dangling from higher poles. The thought is to “problem conventional notions of area and construction,” he says. “Existential dread stays a major theme in my work, reflecting modern societal points like local weather change and social inequality. My installations create areas for contemplation and connection.”
“Facilitated truths (the brand new world)” (2022), Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork. Picture by Kunstdok /Tor S Ulstein/ Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork
Raustein can also be focused on longstanding textiles traditions, together with ties to invisible labor, gender roles, queer tradition, and environmental impression. He sources supplies from native and sustainable producers and gravitates towards cloth with a historical past.
For instance, silver material seems in a forthcoming exhibition at Stavanger Museum due to its hyperlink to therapeutic and magic, notably throughout Medieval instances. The exhibition, titled Mitt Stavanger, honors the 900th birthday of the artist’s hometown and appears again at its tough moments, notably when the bubonic plague decimated town. He provides:
I’ve created a room the place the partitions are lined with textiles embroidered with symbols from the Primstav, (a picket Norwegian runic calendar) and symbolize Syftesok (St. Swithun’s wake, 2 July), a day vital to Stavanger’s patron saint, St. Swithun. The room additionally options show instances full of textile sculptures in silver, impressed by fortunate charms and talismans. These ‘textile amulets’ carry the sheen and aesthetics of silver, embodying a perception in magic and safety towards illness, dying, and evil forces.
Mitt Stavanger opens on June 20. Raustein is presently engaged on a monograph to be launched within the fall, and you’ll observe information about each on Instagram.
“When all the pieces we all know turns into unusual (tomorrow all the pieces repeated itself once more) / primrose” (2023). Phot by Øystein Thorvaldsen
“Facilitated truths (the brand new world)” (2022), set up view at Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork. Picture by Kunstdok/Tor S Ulstein/ Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork
“When all the pieces we all know turns into unusual (controversial choices)” (2023), set up view at Sølvberget Gallery, Stavanger. Picture by Øystein Thorvaldsen
“Facilitated truths (the brand new world)” (2022), Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork. Picture by Kunstdok /Tor S Ulstein/ Nitja Centre for Modern Artwork
“When all the pieces we all know turns into unusual (reactivated outlines) terracotta/sweet” (2023). Picture by Øystein Thorvaldsen
“When all the pieces we all know turns into unusual (controversial choices),” (2023), set up view at Sølvberget Gallery, Stavanger
#set up
#John Ok. Raustein
#sculpture
#textiles
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