Looking Backwards
Hå gamle prestegard, 2. mars – 14. april 2013
Malerier på lerret og vegg, tegninHå gamle prestegard, March 2 – April 14, 2013
Paintings on canvas and wall, drawing, and collage
Looking Backwards is based on a fictional story about my grand aunt Anna, who traveled to Uganda as a nurse just before the independence from British Africa. It was a time of political unrest, yet as a white person, one still enjoyed the privileges of European superiority. This story serves as a point of departure for an exploration of immigration history, emigration, colonization, and religion.
Through drawing, painting, and collage, personal photographs, old family images, and pictures from the Norwegian missionary archive are given new life and meaning. In this exhibition, I blend situations, continents, time, and space. The paintings and drawings, which may initially appear documentary in nature, are all manipulated and consist of multiple layers of photographs. Through the combination and interaction of these processed materials, a new narrative emerges. How does history change when the context shifts? What is truth? Who is telling the story?
