And the methods of applying color have been equally varied; spraying, pouring, sparkling, dipping and scraping are prominent, while traces of the hand, as manifested in brushstrokes, are mostly absent.
In a series of paintings from 2019-20 entitled Lux, Giæver introduced beeswax as a sculptural element. A shallow wax relief was engraved with woven lines and then washed with oilpaint in bright pink, yellow and green hues, making the pattern of lines pop up and creating a luminous transparent layer of color on the image surface.
In the exhibition “Collecting Colors – Catch and Release”, beeswax plays the main role. Line Ulekleiv writes about these works:
“The possibilities that reside in a given material, either as latent or realized potential, is a common thread in Katrine Giæver’s practice. The choice of wax is motivated by the distinctive depth and color that arises when using the material, on the threshold of the three-dimensional. A certain object character defines these images, and can be clearly seen in relation to her previous works.
Beeswax and organic resins are mixed with pure color pigments. When the hot wax mixture cools, it hardens in a few minutes, and the application on veneered panels must be precise and pointed – like action painting with a slow material. The wax mixture is poured and manipulated until the flow of color comes to rest with curving edges, although sometimes more straight lines appear. The action creates the form, and a gradual build-up of the image surface becomes the scene of intimate and playful encounters. In this context Giæver sees herself as an operator, a catalyst that starts and stops the process. Wax as a material possesses both resistance and a warm nerve. It can also take us far back in time, to an original source. “1
Beeswax as a binder for pigments and protective varnish on pictures and sculptures, was widespread already in antiquity and is still important in several artistic techniques and processes.
“The process of Giæver’s technique lends a conspicious vocabulary to these new works. The wax rumbles out and becomes one with the form. In contrast to industrial paints that she has previously worked with, the wax has a headstrong nature which must be carefully manupulated. It is both hard and soft, defined and pliable. The colors work with the material and spread out on the surface as tentacles, lines and waves.”1
Katrine Giæver (b. 1960 in Tromsø), lives and works in Oslo. She is a graduate of the Norwegian School of Crafts and Design in Oslo and Visva Bharathi University in West Bengal, India.
Giæver has designed several public commissions, among the most recent are murals for Åsane Kulturhus in Bergen, and murals in stuccolustro for Helsfyr Metro Station in Oslo. Her most recent exhibition was “LUX” at Galleri Dropsfabrikken, Trondheim in 2020 and “Dip” at Galleri Riis, Oslo in 2017. Giæver is represented among others, in the collections of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo and Stavanger Art Museum in Stavanger.
1Line Ulekleiv in the essay “Collecting Colors – Catch and Release” about the works in this exhibition.
