“There are unlimited possibilities, like in the little universe of the egg.”
Courtesy of the artist.
Jenny-Marie Johnsen
Janeke Meyer Utne, Art Historian
Jenny-Marie Johnsen describes herself as a painter rather than a photographer, something which emerges clearly in the video, “Eclipse.” The title is taken from a phenomenon of nature, but what we see is not an example of an actual solar eclipse. The video and photo series originate in a completely abstract phenomenon made by the camera lens. This tension between the referential and the non-figurative is one of the most prominent aspects of Johnsen’s work. Although “Eclipse” allows associations of eclipses and hovering spheres, it is also an investigation of the mixture of tempo, movement and colour during the brief time they occur. And in spite of the fact that the work has references to the minimalist, non-figurative, and optically oriented parts of modernisn, she is not trying to show an autonomous, non-referential work. Rather she presents us with a layer of associations and meanings. The slow gliding circles give associations not only to spheres hovering through the universe but can also be understood as a symbol of the universal, the world of ideas. By doing this, the artist connects not only the eternal and the final, the universal and the particular, but also the macro- and micro-cosmos. The hovering sphere can be seen as the egg in the womb. Such associations are easy to make but not necessary. Johnsen is an artist who investigates the mystery of colour , the impact on our senses and what kind of atmosphere is created. There are unlimited possibilities, like in the little universe of the egg.
Courtesy of the artist.
