A SAILING SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION IN CONCRETE
BY SCULPTOR MARIT BENTHE NORHEIM
BEHIND THE PROJECT / THE ARTIST
The artist behind Life-boats Marit Benthe Norheim
born 1960 in Norway, resident in Denmark since 1996.
She studied at the Norwegian State Art Academy, Bergen, Norway, a Travelling Art Academy, throughout Europe in-cluding 5 months in Italy, and The Royal Academy of Art (MA), London. This led to her living and working in London from 1984 until 1995.
Benthe has given many group and solo shows, and has under-taken several large public commissions in Norway, Denmark, England Sweden, Iceland and Greenland.
Her work is held in the Public Collections of a.o. the Norwegian Contemporary Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art, Norway and the New Carlsberg Foundation, Denmark.
She has been lecturing at a number of Art Colleges, including Royal Academy of Art and Central Saint Martin School of Art, London.
Some of her large public sculptures include local community involvement, and two of them use themes from the female figures of Henrik Ibsen’s writings. The first one is “Woman of the sea” at the harbourof Sæby, Denmark. The last one is the “Rat Virgin” from “Little Eyolf” a 7m. tall sculpture covered in a mosaic of porcelain eyes, made by 2300 children in Skien, for the Ibsen Anniversary 2006.
Leading up to Life-boats were her project “Campingwomen” for the European Capital of Culture, Stavanger 2008, Norway.
She has been preoccupied with the way popular, familiar symbols open up access to the irrational, and has therefore used a.o. angels or galleon figures. When combining these with a less accessible form of artistic expression, the contrasts often produce a fruitful result.
"I am interested in art which is placed into - or is a part of - a context, and which can be experienced on many levels, not just through the intellect and thoughts. This is why working in the public space has interested me so much. Producing a story - my own selected parts set in relation to the site specific - has been the driving force of large parts of my production.
Social participation is a very important part of my concept structure, both through direct involvement, where collected photos and symbols are modelled in porcelain (according to the given theme) are incorporated in the fabric of the sculpture. But also the physical aspect of being able to experience the sculpture by sitting on them, turn and drive them, slide through them or enter into them.
Another aspect is music and sound. In several of my projects, both the temporary and the permanent, I have had a good collaboration with the contemporary composer, Geir Johnson"
Marit Benthe Norheim