The selection of works and themes for the exhibition is based on the fact that Kjell Aukrust grew up at an agricultural college, and his artistic practice contains references to farming and the cultural landscape.
-I grew up on a farm, but I have never been a farmer myself. Even so, the cycle connected to agriculture and food production is deeply ingrained in me. Every spring I look forward to seeing the first shoots emerge from the fields, and in autumn the sound of the combine harvesters at work has a calming effect on me. The works I am showing in the exhibition are connected to my experience of agriculture and food production. Ceramics has a millennia-old tradition of storing, preparing and serving food. For me, there is an important connection between the clay’s origin and the clay’s tradition. In these works, I have tried to relate this to modern, industrial agriculture. I want to show a fascination with what agriculture contributes, both as a food producer and as a visual experience of the cultural landscape.
Kari Oline Øverseth (1960) is a craft artist and professor at the Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, NTNU. Like Kjell Aukrust, Kari Oline trained at the National College of Art and Design (now the Oslo National Academy of the Arts).
