Ovtas Ter II, Salvia Series, 2018
In the making of Ovtas Ter II, Salvia Series, I gather in the forest and fields researched medicinal plants and flowers. Rushing back to the studio to beat the clock before the specimens wilt in front of my lens. The botanical Vanitas images are time-consuming made by hand with organic plant materials picked during the arctic summer bloom. I think of these photographs almost like victoria morning wreaths, or pre-historic flower graves of long-lost ancestors. The intricate organic shapes in these photographs create Pareidolia's phenomenon resembling shapes forming faces emerging from the black-void background. These images are inspired by the first conceptual artifacts in flower-lined graves' archaeological findings, representing passage into an underworld. The symmetrical patterns reference and borrow visually from Rosemallen, a traditional Scandinavian folk art.