The Lorck Schive Art Prize is held biennially at Norway’s Trondheim kunstmuseum and is the country’s biggest art prize. This year, native Norwegian Vanessa Baird won for a series of large scale wall drawings, I don’t want to be anywhere, but here I am.
The intensely detailed pastel drawings are a colourful eruption of chaos, many scenes very relevant to our current times. The artist often works with watercolour and pastel, creating a mix of intimate and large scale works. These works cover a range of content–some surreal, some architectural and a few controversial. A previous work, Lyset forsvinner – bare vi lukker øynene (The light fades – if only we close our eyes) was taken down from the Ministry of Health in 2013 after associations were made with the bombings of 22 July.
Congratulations on your win, can you tell us a little about the work that was entered to the prize?
I made huge drawings like wallpaper. A wallpaper like in anyone’s bedroom. At first sight it looks nice and pleasant, like an abstract painting. And then I added Little Black Sambo and his entire family into the wallpaper where they are all drowning. I also included my rather chaotic personal life. Like daily life at home.
Do you feel that Norway inspires or leads your work in any way?
As I don’t have any other experience than being born and brought up in Norway I wouldn’t know.
Do you find there is a struggle for relevancy sometimes with drawing as a medium, or is it currently undergoing a renaissance?
Drawing on paper is like poetry, it never goes out of fashion.
Can you tell us a little about the political worries that arose from The light fades – if only we close our eyes?
The flying papers are world-wide and give many different associations. Some people found the papers traumatic, but I don’t agree. It was a very strange situation.
And finally, what is next for you?
Future shows are Solo shows at Kunstnernes Hus and the Munch Museum in Oslo.
Read more about The Lorck Schive Art Prize
