mural
2024
from UN(SEEN) group exhibition
Heimdal Kunstforening—Hovedgalleriet
Trondheim, Norway
Text by Daniel V. H. Hansen
The mural covered one of the gallery walls and depicted common herbs that grow in Trondheim. It was created using watercolours, acrylic paint, pencils and ink. The composition was based on sketches and studies performed in 2023-2024.
Titled A Man and a Woman and a Heather Are One, the mural is inspired by my research on the relationship between humans and plants. It focuses on local wild plants that are often unnoticed, but have been used by people for centuries. The work also draws on Indigenous traditions in which plants are often understood as kin, as well as the scientific understanding that humans and plants share a common ancestor, the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA).
The title refers to a fragment of Wallace Stevens’ poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
Photo credits: Daniel V. H. Hansen