“Small Shadows of Sound” Akershus kunstsenter Norway 2016

Trine Mauritz
Small Shadows of Sound

Throughout art history, the play between light and shadow has been essential, and the goal has often been to capture the contrasts, depth, and sublime quality of the light. Light and shadow can be perceived as a game between life and death, between the delicate and the brutal, beauty versus ugliness. Light has a key function in architecture as well, where the wandering shadows can create atmosphere and movement in a room. And in photography, a technique dependent on light, the examples of in-focus versus unfocussed are manifold.

Trine Mauritz is no exception. She has chosen to delve into the effects of shadows and optical illusions, and she effortlessly moves between strict modernism and the softer slippages of the post-modern. On the one hand, there are repeating lines and patterns, on the other, there is the extremely sensuous expression. Her works balance on the edge between tactility and beauty, while the colours give a sense of mood.

Mauritz has chosen textiles as her medium, and over the years she has honed and perfected her technique. Trained in Norway, Denmark and Japan, she has gathered impulses from many different places. In Japan, she learned about the shibori technique and process, a traditional Japanese method where textiles are folded and pressed between wooden blocks prior to colouring, which in turn creates simple, yet striking geometrical patterns. The soft, slightly flossy surface of the fabric makes for subtle transitions between the colours, which heightens the visual experience. The result is a mix of purity and strictness, contrasting with the soft texture of the fabric. In terms of colour, Mauritz is uncompromising and confident, and she sticks to an earthy and subdued spectrum.

The exhibition at Akershus Kunstsenter offers several new works, including a monumental piece spanning five metres across. New to Mauritz’ practice are stone mosaics – prior to the exhibition she collaborated with stone masons in Munich, who helped her realise pieces in this new technique. Yet, there is no doubt that Mauritz is the brain behind these; the same play of colour and the same ambience found in her textiles is echoed in the mosaics.

Trine Mauritz (b. 1960) has participated in a number of exhibitions nationally and internationally, including Kunstnerforbundet, RAM galleri, Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Design and Art Center i Hong Kong, and The third COLLECT at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Her work is represented in the collections of the Kyoto Shibori Museum in Japan and the National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo.

The exhibition is curated by Rikke Komissar.