NOW I SEE… NOW I DON’T – Mona Hoel

Development, stagnation, physical, mental, turning points, problems to solve, new techniques, colors, mistakes, solutions, uncertainty, confidence, regrets, planned, random, courage, fear, mental thresholds, obstacles, cycles, circles, ambiguity, clarity; the learning process… my creative process. The works in this exhibition represent that process.

My initial inspiration for the paintings and installations in this exhibition was the refugee and immigration situation in Europe. After seeing the film Terraferma (Emanuele Crialese 2011), as well as the films Biutiful (Iñárritu 2010) and Le Havre (Kaurismäki 2011), I wondered how I had been so unaware of this and heard so little about it. It took a long time for the stories of the Mediterranean to make it to the news headlines. They were not important, not of current interest. We could choose ignorance. Choose not to see.

The compulsive need to “do something” became almost suffocating. The feeling of duty to creatively address it, but being paralyzed with fear of the challenge. How to depict something I cannot even begin to understand? What right do I have? I had creative ideas far outside my comfort zone.

The works seem to take on a life of their own as my creative process progresses, distancing themselves and gradually even completely detaching from my original source of inspiration; paint, charcoal, eggs, pigment, fabric, foam board, glue, staples, tarlatan, polyurethane, styrofoam, wire, vinyl… is that now all I see?

Translated with Copilot