ELLISIF HALS
UT UR EN VOLVO I SOLNEDGÅNGEN

26 SEPTEMBER – 3 NOVEMBER 2024

ELLISIF HALS WILL PRESENT THE EXHIBITION THURSDAY OCTOBER 31 2–3 PM

SVENSKA

When I was little, I had a recurring dream. I meet an extraterrestrial being. It gets out of a Volvo in the sunset and lets its mocking gaze slide right past me as if to tell me that in its world I mean nothing. The dream was quite scary but mostly offensive. In a waking state, the memory of it was associated with a peculiar experience of sound distortion and the body as an enormously dense mass inside a very thin shell. Most often the feeling came when I was drawing and the sound of my pencil scratching against paper. I was about 4 years old and was probably beginning to realize the extent of my own insignificance and the randomness of my existence. Occasionally, I can still get the feeling when I’m working, and the creature turns his arrogant, evasive gaze upon me. By persistently pumping out and filling its entire field of vision with my images, I prevent the cowardly little devil from escaping my gaze.

–      Ellisif Hals, Malmö, 2024

Ellisif Hals builds up her works layer by layer. With images in dry point etching, she adds one sheet over the other, then slowly and precisely cutting parts away from the top layers. She works like an archeologist, uncovering and exposing the image within, letting details from each sheet be a part of the final image. Ellisif Hals’ working process is meticulous. Nevertheless, she cannot know the exact result beforehand. The layers, with their different colors and pictorial depths, create a sculptural image, where light and shadow, play equally important parts. Ellisif Hals finds inspiration in crafts, where the creative process takes time, and in history and architecture. Her works are like architectural collages, where the eye can choose many winding roads and find unexpected treasures on the way.

The exhibition will also feature the animated short film Lågtid, a work dedicated to the shortcomings of time and the exploration of the space between existences. The audiovisual work is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Ellisif Hals, animator Yuvia Maini and composer Cassius Lambert.

ELLISIF HALS, born 1981 in Molde, Norway, currently lives and works in Malmö, Sweden. Ellisif Hals holds a BFA from the Konstfag at Oslo National Academy of Art, 2006.

Ellisif Hals's work has been shown at Malmö konstmuseum; Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm; Ystads konstmuseum; Malmö Konsthall; Oslo Kunstforening; Romsdalsmuseet, Molde; Galleri Thomas Wallner, Simrishamn; Arnstedt Östra Karup; Galleri Hammarén, Göteborg; Norske Grafikere, Oslo; Neues Kunsthaus, Ahrenshoop; Møre og Romsdal Kunstnersenter, Molde; Market Art Fair, Stockholm and CHART Art Fair, Copenhagen, among others.

Ellisif Hals is the recipient of Sigvard and Marianne Bernadotte’s Art Foundation Grant, Maria Bonnier Dahlin’s Grant, Sparebanken Møre Gnist Scolarship and Sparebankstiftelsen DNBs Scolarship, among others.

Ellisif Hals's work is in the permanent collection of Bonniers Konstsamling; Malmö Konstmuseum; The Public Art Agency Sweden; Stockholm Läns Landsting; Stockholm konst; Uppsala Kommun; Region Skåne; Gävle Kommun; Region Katrineholm; Region Norrköping. Public commissions include Stockholm konst, Stockholm Läns Landsting and Bekkevoll Ungdomsskole in Norway.

Ellisif Hals is currently of interest in the exhibition Människoungar at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, 7 September – 17 November 2024.

WORKS