SIRI BERQVAM

I’m interested in the network that connects us all. I make somewhat surrealistic landscapes with needle and thread that are inspired by branching in nature and in the human body – from the hyphae of fungus deep underground to impulses arising through nerve cells in the human brain. My works often take the form of site-specific installations that are inspired by the idea of an uncontrollable, forested wilderness as seen in relation to the body and chaotic mental states. In this way, I compare the forest with the magic of the human spirit. I find it interesting that we always lack control but are constantly trying to achieve it. Fungus represents the opposite of control; it’s mostly invisible and at the same time all around us. The installation Fungus could be associated with abandoned houses or cities – places where catastrophes or unemployment have resulted in ghostly ruins reclaimed by nature and now inhabited by animals. Another theme I work with is the crossover between popular culture and the spiritual world. The installation Dial Tone(Summetone) involves contrasting textile materials and outdated technology. It shows different deconstructed versions of telephones with parts made of stitched and embroidered artificial leather. Communication is beyond time, through another wavelength or in another dimension. The enigmatic perspective is to be found in the nature of art, which may not be defined.

Siri Berqvam (b. 1977 in Skedsmo, Norway) lives and works in Sandefjord. She creates sculptures and installations with textiles as her main materials. She studied at Bergen National Academy of the Arts (master’s degree, 2006). Since then, she has been showing her works in solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo, Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Tønsberg, Vigeland Museum in Oslo, the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts’ Annual Craft Exhibition, KODE Art Museums in Bergen, Kunstbanken Hamar, Trondheim Art Association and Haugesund Billedgalleri. In 2020 she received a 10-year work grant from Arts Council Norway.