1I

1l features a woman by Højer, the Wadden Sea National Park in south Jutland Denmark. The painting fits into the series Nord (North) which aim is to capture the essence and ambience of the Nordic countries. You might call it Nordic contemporary painting, if such a name has been coined for it yet.  Sooner or later it might exist, just like Nordic Noir suddenly became synonymous with a crime series phenomenon on TV, in which Swedes and Danes ran up an alarming body count in full darkness or colour-graded bluish grey daylight.

But it is debatable how Nordic this painting is, when it all comes down to it. The best relaxed model for this particular painting turned out to be German national from as far south as Saxony. Plus, if it was not for the light and skyline, the Wadden Sea might as well be the German or Dutch counterparts.

It reminds me of radio dramas or radio theatre, in which convincing sound effects rarely are recordings of the real thing. No, thunder, for instance, is best achieved by beating a metal plate. Bird song is whistled by a human being; and so forth. I guess the word for this is ‘artistic freedom’ not least for our fictional ‘Nordic contemporary painting’.

You can view more paintings from the series Nord here.

Title/Titel/Titel/Títolo #1I, Acrylic and oil on canvas/ Akryl und Öl auf Leinwand/Akryl og olie på lærred/acrílico e óleo sobre tela 83x140cm.  

Below, you find a short video snippet of the tail end of the painting process. The varnishing, which is there to boost the effect of the colours together and just as importantly, to add a protective membrane layer to protect the paint film underneath.

The woman who graciously agreed to pose for this painting is Kerstin Funk, who lives with her husband and two sons in Flensburg.