Silje Figenschou Thoresen

Through gathering, collecting, assembling and situating, Silje Figenschou Thoresen examines form in relation to material and use. From this perspective, she follows the ways things have been shaped, and portrays aesthetic practices that challenge traditional categorisations.

strukturer
Silje Figenschou Thoresen has based her structures on a Sami tradition in which a present need is addressed by creating an object out of the materials that happen to be available. This tradition is typically, although not uniquely, Sami, and characterised by an improvisational spirit and the need for a change of some sort. This is a form of creation that tends to follow the direction set by the materials, rather than seeking to force them into a certain shape. The materials used in her structures do not conform to any specific rules and the choices have been made entirely based on existing opportunities, the place, and context. The structures are assembled temporarily, and can be taken apart so that the various pieces can be granted new roles in alternative contexts.

vandret linje
vandret linje is a series of drawings that originated in a desire to draw, show, and follow a line as it comes into being. Silje Figenschou Thoresen has imitated local archaeological and anthropological drawings of Sami settlements. These seemingly abstract images depict concrete phenomena: settlements, sea levels, migration patterns, stone tools, and much more. The drawings were made by directly imitating the original pictures, but also from the artist’s memory, in return the material has been allowed to dictate the shape they have taken as they emerge on the paper.

Silje Figenschou Thoresen is an artist working in Kirkenes in Østfinnmark in Northern Norway. Her artistic practice encompasses installation, sculpture, and drawing, and is often determined by the materials she works with.