Ceriana, Italy
What is your earliest memory with art?
My earliest memory with art was with my Danish grandmother, Ragnhild. She drew an elephant for me when I was a kid, and my eyes lit up. She was an artist, illustrator, teacher, author, and much more - a great personality and a generous human being. She was ahead of her time and a massive inspiration to me.
If you had to choose one musical artist to play a whole day at your atelier, who would it be?
It would probably be The Smiths, or any Manchester band or artist from the late ’80s or ’90s. The amount of great bands and music from that era and area of England is really something special. Also, the “Manchester baggy” culture from that time shaped the way we dress today - probably the reason why I wear bucket hats all the time, who knows haha.
You use a somewhat untraditional medium in your art, mixing painting with fabric. Can you elaborate on how you came to that medium and why?
I work with discarded textiles and clothing as a medium for storytelling - deconstructing, tearing, and cutting garments into fragments, then applying them to canvas and sculptures in an abstract way. The Arte Povera movement has been an inspiring period and forms the basis for how I work methodically with my ideas. I’m interested in why we connect with clothes and material objects, and at what point in their life cycle they lose value to us. This leads to another thought - perhaps even more importantly - how we consume clothing, and the mindset and ingrained habits behind it. There’s also a constant urge in me to question our state of mind. Our future and the planet are at stake, and I feel a need to share my perspectives and emotions, and open my mind through my work.
What part does fashion play in your art? Do you take inspiration from fashion, or does it have a more practical role in your work as an artist?
I previously worked as a designer and was part of the industry for four years. At the beginning of my artistic practice, I took a lot of inspiration from the working methods of that world, so to some extent it played a practical role early on.
But over time, you leave those ways of working behind. At least for me, I need to set myself free and let intuition and instinct take over. When I reach that trance-like state of mind, I know I’m onto something good.
Is there a garment in your wardrobe that holds a special place in your heart or has an interesting story?
I would say my oldest bucket hat. I bought it years ago in Paris from a small Korean-French brand. It’s completely sun-faded with a great patina, but it has the perfect fit for me. I asked a friend who was recently in Paris to pick up two new ones from the same place.
Where do you turn when you’ve hit a creative wall or “writer’s block”?
For me, there are two approaches. If possible, I take a break - go for a walk, step out of the workspace, and let a new perspective come. It also helps to minimize screen time - no doom-scrolling.
The other approach, and probably the more common one, is to work through it. Sometimes all it takes is emptying out a paint bucket and starting from scratch. Bring out the inner child, make a few thoughtless brushstrokes, and good ideas will appear.
