Recent Work 2022-2023












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About Petter Solberg
Petter Solberg is a visual artist based in Oslo, Norway. His work spans various media, including sculpture, painting, poetry, and animation. Solberg earned his MFA from Edinburgh College of Art in 2010, and since then, he has showcased his artwork in group and solo exhibitions both domestically and internationally. Additionally, Solberg has participated in artist residencies in Norway, Denmark, and Germany. In his artistic practice, Solberg embraces a playful ambivalence, often navigating between different media and materials, while exploring diverse ideas and narrative possibilities. His creations frequently examine various aspects of contemporary culture and society, and are often expressed within fictional narrative contexts.
Artist Statement
My creative practice is characterized by an ongoing state of ambivalence, as I oscillate between contrasting aesthetics, themes, and forms. My work is informed by a dialectic between analysis and mystery, with a love of both simple, sober realism and the enchanting and mystical powers of language, both visual and textual. My ultimate goal is to produce work that simultaneously reveals and conceals, where one element comes to light as another is concealed, and the mystery is displaced rather than solved.
In my quest to explore recurring themes from various perspectives, I utilize a range of expressions, including sculpture, painting, animation, and text. This approach enables me to continuously modify and transform my ideas and images over time. For example, what was once a sculpture may eventually become a poem, or vice versa. The use of different media also requires me to slow down and contemplate each element, much like a distillation process. This is particularly relevant in animation, where I must take the time to understand movement by slowing it down.
Rather than creating individual works, I prefer to work in series, constantly developing and refining ongoing projects that are part of a larger process, yet represent distinct aesthetic and conceptual positions. These projects typically emerge as reactions to previous ones, thereby reinforcing my artistic ambivalence and keeping me in a state of perpetual uncertainty.
One project may prioritize minimalism, while another may revel in excess. This approach allows me to explore ideas that might otherwise be discarded based on my personal taste, as I imagine that the projects originate from outside myself, as if created by someone else. This role-playing process is sometimes revealed to the audience as a performative element.
In addition to my visual art practice, I also engage with text, through independent literary pursuits such as poetry and prose, as well as through text-based art.
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