Norwegian artist Berit Myrebøe is back in Sydney for her third Artist’s Residency in Australia. Her brand new exhibition "Skin Deep" opens at Dominik Mersch Gallery in Sydney on 31 March.
When the Berlin-based Norwegian artist Berit Myrebøe (b. 1968) first came to Sydney in 2007, she never expected to find a coastline "completely similar" to that of her Scandinavian homeland. In two companion exhibitions Myrebøe has previously captured characteristics of the two countries with her coolly alluring work on polished aluminium panels. Now Myrebøe has returned to Sydney with a brand new exhibition titled “Skin deep”.
Gallery director Dominik Mersch says: “Berit Myrebøe is part of the exchange program to introduce artists from Europe to Australia. Our gallery made her stay here in Sydney and I am very delighted to show the works she created in Sydney during the last couple of months.”
Berit Myrebøe works in a multi-media style, using raw aluminium sheets as a base. She uses photographic techniques to develop special photos. The photos are then transferred to the aluminium picture surface, by a self-developed, artistic transfer process. She builds up layer upon layer of images on her panels – a single panel could contain elements from 10 or 20 different photographs. After that the painting onto the aluminium begins, the structures of the shapes are enhanced with colour, further developed and interpreted.
Myrebøe continues to be intrigued by the two countries’ parallels, and explores the Australian coastline rock formations and how they look in the hard, white light, which is so different to the soft infusing light of Norwegian landscapes. To illustrate her point about Australian and Norwegian similarities, for instance, one of her Tamarama Beach multi-layered works contains small parts from Norway as well.
In Myrebøe’s finished work, with her rock formations, ocean edges and human faces and bodies transformed into something almost illusive, subtle, enigmatic and ethereal. Notwithstanding the cool metallic sheen the works emanate warmth with the viewers reflection and movements and light of surrounding landscape becoming part of the artwork.
The exhibiton opens on Wednesday 31 March, 6 - 8pm, and can be visited at Dominik Mersch Gallery until 1 May 2010.
For more information, use the links to the right.