Walking the hills

Så er tiden inne for utstilling i Bath, England. Vår felles utstilling som åpner 7. oktober 2016 i Bath Contemporary. Malcolm Ashman beskriver vår historie så godt i sin blogg, at jeg velger å legge den ut her i sin helhet.

I’m finishing a collection of small objects, a Collector’s Cabinet and a large sculpture for a collaborative exhibition in Bath called “Walking the Hills’ with artist Inger Karthum. These, together with joint and individual pieces, form a large body of work charting our working life and growing friendship over the last three and a half years.

We began by working on three large pieces that combined aspects of each others work. The initial diptych we called 'Walking the Hills' based on conversations we'd had about our respective childhoods. We'd both known we were artists from a very early age, born into families who had no idea of how to deal with us. Inger lived in Narvik, Norway, in the shadow of Sleeping Queen mountain and myself in the countryside around Bath in England. We spent much time alone, walking in nature, exploring the landscape and imagining futures immersed in the arts.

We have much in common, ways of looking and dealing with ideas about the world and for two people who had spent their lives working autonomously it was such a step to collaborate on joint projects.

The process has been extremely stimulating and satisfying, presenting new ideas and ways of working, giving me the confidence to pick up ideas that have been lying untouched in the back of my mind for many years. Above all we've had fun. We've played like the young people we were way back, finding excitement in new ways of working, not caring whether it would be of interest to anyone other than ourselves or how it might fit into the commercial art arena.

In the Collector's Cabinet is a scrap of paper from a fortune cookie I'd kept for many years; I imagined some day I might find the perfect place for it.

"your wish will be granted after a long delay"

Malcolm Ashman