The exhibition at the LNM gallery presents the duo formed by Anne Marie Wien and Kine Lillestrøm. For the occasion, the artists have created works that invite us to reflect on how the deterioration or abstraction from their original context of certain objects and materials modifies their initial function. The title of the exhibition, “Glimmer”, refers to a mineral called mica in English that is present in many products we use daily. Despite our contact with mica is ignored by most of the people, its particles are constantly on and around us, since it is very hard to get rid of them as nor water-soluble and nor fat-soluble.
Three artworks greet the visitor in the first room. One by Wien and two, on the right, by Lillestrøm, they alone make the point of the exhibition. In Ground, Wien demonstrates her sensitivity to colours and her ability to create a figurative yet unusual natural landscape. The painting, oil on canvas, depicts a pile of handkerchiefs that, despite their stillness, are assembled in a dynamic composition. On the opposite side of the door two artworks by Lillestrøm: Tre, kobolt, skifer (tree, cobalt and slate), and Tre og skifer (tree and slate). The artist by replacing parts of wood with slate and by painting the wooden planks, plays with the concept of still-life. Cutting trees and excavating mountains implies the annihilation of a part of nature, to which Lillestrøm gives a new life as art pieces.
The second room is dedicated to Kine Lillestrøm, in this space an art work called Landsskapstudie (landscape study) is combined by many different ones. On the right wall are arranged a series of wooden planks decorated with overlapping layers of transparent paint that create seemingly spontaneous abstract patterns by using earth like colours such as greens, browns and blacks. On the two shelfs raw industrial materials are added to the composition of wooden planks. Even though all these elements have been subtracted to their original purpose, it is still easy to identify which material has been modified in order to obtain the industrial product: wood or stein. What has not been made to be placed in an art gallery becomes an artwork that raises a question about the consumptive culture we live in.
The same question emerges through Wien’s paintings, to which is entirely dedicated the third room. The seven paintings titled Utmark rely on lively colours and little contrast with the monochromatic background. Though it could be hard to realise it at first because of the fascinating patterns that are inspired by the Renaissance draperies, these works too have waste products as subjects: plastic bags, warned out clothes, colourful rugs and threads. While the absence of depth is emphasised by the painted frames that play as an extension of the painting itself, the apparently simplistic treatment of the subjects reflects the shallowness of men’s behaviour.
The title of the exhibition suggests a hidden presence that silently impacts everyone’s life. By intervening on a natural element, such as the mica, men create a variety of products that, once they have become useless, pollute and it is impossible to reverse the process. The effect is permanent. The two artists’ works cover two areas within the same theme: Wien, views waste as an outcome of the industrial process that permanently spoils nature, Lillestrøm, recycles waste and surplus production by giving them another identity, an artistic one. Dealing with waste, recycling, hence with consumption not only opens a discussion about how sustainable are the choices every person makes, but it also digs into the life-style of an entire society.