Siste helg i mars viser CYAN galleri utstillingen «Knoklene blir til trær » av fotograf Elisa Halvorsen Castillo
Halvorsen Castillo viser oss et nytt og sammensatt blikk på et mørkt skogslandskap, både fysisk og mentalt. Hun bruker en blandingsteknikk av installasjon tegninger og analoge fotografier med lange eksponeringstider, bevisst feileksponering og samme type tegning på bildene underveis i løpet av fremkallingsprosessen.
“Knoklene blir til trær” presents a series of photographs collected during a residency in Austmarka, a small village in the Norwegian forest. This residency program was divided in 3 periods: fall, spring and winter. This exhibition is a continuation of an earlier show in the same space titled “Finnskogen”, that displayed the ongoing results of the first residency period in January 2023. On this occasion, the artist is showing a developed project after working for two more years and experiencing the “Forest of the Finns” for another two residency periods.
This exhibition consists of a series of Gelatin Silver prints, using traditional and experimental methods such as Lith Printing, and a technique Elisa created that allows to integrate drawings into the analog developing process. Working with photography, the artist explore how memories and perception are affected by mental illness, reflecting on the duality of the forest as a place to find peace, in contrast with facing loneliness and vulnerability. This project portrays the unsettling feeling of walking through a silent vast forest, while “its presence” stalks. Illustrating the forest presence as a living being by drawing in the dark, transforms its appearance in haunting ghosts.
Together with the photo exhibition, the artist is launching the Photobook “Knoklene blir til trær” (Los huesos se transforman en árboles), the third edition of the book series “Finnskogen”. Including new material gathered after a third residency period, this publication is made by mixing analog photography processes with printmaking techniques, aiming to break the walls between both practices. The previous edition of this Photobook was selected to be part of Oslo Negativ 2024 in Preus Museum’s open call. It was also part of the exhibition What If? at Fotobokfestivalen 2024 (Gamle Munch), B*stard kunstbokmesse 2024 (Opplandkunstsenter, Lillehammer) and Bergen Art Book Fair 2024 (Bergen Kunsthall). This publication was acquired by The Norwegian National Museum’s Library and Archive, Preus museum (Norway's National Museum of Photography), and The Oslo National Academy of the Arts to be part of their library collections. Its launch in Oslo will be followed by a launch in Tekstallmenningen (Bergen) during this year's Bergen Art book fair.
This Photobook is made with the support of Kulturdirektoratet Prosjektstøtte, Norske Grafikeres Prosjektstøtte and Atelier Austmarka. Risoprinted, and hand-bound by the artist in an edition of 100 copies.
Elisa Halvorsen Castillo (f. 1990) er en chilensk kunstner med norske røtter. Hun er basert i Oslo etter å nylig ha fullført en master i kunst og håndverk ved Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo. Ved å jobbe med analoge eksperimentelle teknikker og selvutgitte kunstnerbøker, utforsker Elisa begrepet hukommelse og dets plastisitet. For tiden fokuserer arbeidet hennes på å kombinere fotografi, tegning og selvpublisering, utforske hvordan minner og persepsjon påvirkes av psykiske lidelser.
Kunstnerbøkene hennes har blitt en del av Norsk Nasjonalmuseum, Preus museum (Norges Nasjonalmuseum for Fotografi) og Kunsthøgskolen i Oslos biblioteksamlinger.
Åpningsfest fredag 28. mars kl 18:00-23:00
Åpent 29.-30. mars 12:00 - 18:00
For the exhibition Vernissage we invited the artist Dåra Dorky (Femme Brutal), who will create a music performance based on the artwork.
