Elleke van Gorsel creates sculptures, installations, drawings, paintings and graphics. She works autonomously and on commission for companies and individuals. Her recent work consists mainly of site-specific installations and thematic projects. This June she traveled to the artist residency Kunstnarhuset Messen in Norway for a new project.
Because of minimizing environmental impact, I would have liked to travel by train, but it turned out to be too complicated to change trains so often with three suitcases/backpacks (including materials to work with). After a short flight, it was very easy to get from the airport to the regional bus station by streetcar after arriving in Bergen. Traveling by regional bus along the Hardangerfjord is quite an experience in contrast to the flat roads here in the Netherlands. You drive alternately in the mountains on narrow winding roads with steep rocks on one side (which are often wrapped in steel mesh to prevent falling chunks of stone) and on the other side down there the deep waters of the Hardangerfjord. The bus travels through many tunnels, some of which are corkscrew-shaped (up to 360°), where there seems to be no end to the dark curve. I was even in a tunnel where far underground you come across a beautifully lit traffic circle and then have to choose an exit there.
The former director's office with a beautiful view of the constantly changing Hardangerfjord was assigned to me as my studio
Kunstnarhuset Messen is located in the tiny village of Ålvik (421 inhabitants). There is a small elementary school, a small supermarket, and two half-days a week the small library is open. The librarian is extremely helpful; if you need books that are not here, she will take them for you from a nearby branch. Because the village has so few inhabitants, these basic facilities are in danger of disappearing which, given the village's limited accessibility and its social component, could become a tragedy, especially for the older inhabitants.
The impressive red building, originally headquarter of the adjacent, still operating, ferrosilicon factory now houses the artist residency. I was assigned the former director's room with beautiful views of the constantly changing Hardangerfjord as my studio. Funny thing is that the privacy-guaranteeing double doors to the former secretary's room and to the hallway are still there. On the second floor I had a fine bedroom with a view of the mountains, often shrouded in rain clouds.
In this part of Norway, you often come across Dutch artists, as do the administrators of the residency. And two other Dutch people rent studios in the building. About sixteen years ago there was a recruitment campaign from the Norwegian government to persuade Dutch artists to settle in Norway. In other villages I have spoken to other Dutch colleagues including during an opening at the Kabuso Art Center in Øystese.
During my residency, there were colleagues from Japan/Germany, Italy, Norway and America working there. Everyone was hard at work in their own studios. The large kitchen was a meeting point, and sometimes in the evenings we took joint walks to the little harbor or in the mountains, watched a movie in the meeting room, went to an exhibition opening in a neighboring town, or to a cultural activity in the village. Sometimes beautiful conversations about the work arose while briefly walking into each other's studios, and at the end of the residency there was Open Studio.
Sometimes beautiful conversations about the work ensued as you briefly walked into each other's studios
The village has a tight-knit community which was evident during a well-attended open-air concert on a mountain meadow where students and members of the brass band, from the very young to the very old, acted. And during the "Solstice", at the edge of the fjord, two young children in local costume "Bunad" walked in procession behind; they were getting "married. This celebration was concluded right by the fjord with a large Midsummer fire and an outdoor communal meal. The Norwegians clearly do not let chilly temperatures or strong winds deter them from celebrating such outdoor festivities.
Because the weather allowed it, the day after my arrival I walked into the mountains to take pictures of the original nature in the area with my two macro lenses. It was wonderful to be able to work in high concentration again and to capture nature that was unknown to me. The weather changes very quickly and often, so when you want to work outside it is wise to consult the weather forecast and be prepared that it can suddenly start to rain heavily.
For the first few weeks I photographed as often as possible in the mountains and by the fjord. Fortunately, because when I came to the mountains later in the month, a lot of the beauty had been mowed away by people from the landscaping department. Just like nowadays in the Netherlands, there are rules regarding mowing roadsides and other flowery plots less often and later. As with my previous project Tholen vs. Iceland. Through the eyes of a child I determined this photo material as well as possible immediately after returning to the studio. For this I borrowed many books from the library including a beautiful book in which the enormous variety of species, even very precisely per region, were specified.
The first few weeks I photographed as often as possible in the mountains and by the fjord
It was also very nice that at one point I was loaned a large monitor on my desk. This allowed me to view my photos much better than on my small laptop screen. Since getting good prints of the macro photos made in the Ålvik area was not possible, I am going to make a selection here in the Netherlands and have them printed on nice paper using piezography. On that I will then continue to work with mixed media to create unica pieces. Sometimes these will combine with other processed sheets to form diptychs or triptychs.
Because my studio overlooked the Hardangerfjord, it was interesting to see how the water and the skies above it changed almost constantly. Since whales and orcas occasionally swim in the fjord, I looked out at the water more often to see if I could spot one. And with some luck, you could spot large birds of prey in the sky. Sometimes I was distracted by helicopters overhead the fjord hauling construction equipment through the air to work on the mountains.
Earlier in the year, through the exhibition "At the Edge of Heaven. Visions' featuring work by medieval and contemporary women artists at Museum Krona in Uden, the Netherlands, I had come in contact with the visual work of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). I associated the framing around her miniatures, the Scivias, with the folklore patterns of the Bunad, the folkloric clothing from Norway. Costume still plays a role in today's Norway and varies by village/region. At celebrations it is still worn in abundance, even by young people. During my residency period, I researched this through a specialized workshop/shop and folklore museums in neighboring towns, and in library books. Since there are some printing presses in the residency building, I was able to use them to experiment finely with sketches I had made as a result of this research.
Just as during my first research I compared the original nature on my native island of Tholen with the original nature on Iceland, in this second project I want to compare the original nature around this tiny village in Northern Europe with that in Southern Europe. Another idea is that I will compare the original nature in a large metropolis in southern(r) Europe with that around this tiny village in northern Europe.
Living so remote certainly allows you to enjoy nature immensely and be totally immersed in it
The research theme then is the difference of today's original nature in northern and southern Europe, and what is the influence of denser construction, of the type of building and activities that take place there, of the population number and gentrification of an area. During my residency in remote tiny Ålvik, I found that for research in outdoor space it is a great place. Although I spent my youth on a remote farm, I ultimately lean more toward working in a more accessible, somewhat larger community, with more facilities. Living so remotely certainly allows you to enjoy nature immensely and be totally immersed in it. But the limitations in terms of transportation and really having to organize a trip for almost everything is a challenge.
More information
ellekevangorsel.com
Instagram: elleke_vangorsel
photo field research: Eva Horpestad Tjaland
photo Open Studio: Cristina Mariani
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