Cicilie Risåsen

Artist statement:

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I make pictures because I want to or maybe more precisely I need to create. Every picture is an attempt to connect to the world around me as well as an attempt to escape it. At its best its an attitude I am after – relaxed precise attention. The transformation of everyday experience. The awareness of the everyday rituals and places where the black holes are so thinly covered that the difference between entering into or stay separated from the other side of things are only a second look away.

I find inspiration in experiences and observations made in my surroundings wherever I am. None of the photos are arranged. This does not mean they are random. Some places and objects contains so much power and the response that makes me shoot the picture involves both conscious and unconscious elements, feeling, thought, memory, knowledge - triggered at the same time. Observation charged with tension, possibilities and secrets.

When I am working with paint I will push and play and explore the motif and the material further. The intention is not to make a "photorealistic" painting - the photo is already taking care of that part. But how much information is enough to make a picture work? What can you gain by repetition? I want alchemy - to remove the unnecessary - to get rid of the stories but preserve the power that comes from them. Often to a point where it is only when you see the title that you recognize the motif. Attention, accuracy and exploration is important for me in both mediums but in the paintings you have the added dimensions of layers,temper, and time in the surface.