Artist of the Month is an interview series where Tegnerforbundet each month introduces a member who is represented with artwork in our Sales Department. With this initiative, we want to give readers an insight into the members' artistic work and highlight the importance of drawing in their work.
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Kristin Holm Dybvig (b.1963) has been a member of Tegnerforbundet for three years. In her drawings, Dybvig explores abstract landscapes. These landscapes are not linked to specific places, but are impulsive compositions created from memories and inner experiences. Through these motifs, the artist expresses emotions and states of mind, creating timeless landscapes. Color plays a central role in Dybvig's drawings. The artist uses the pastel technique where she works colors together until they seamlessly blend into each other. Her pastel technique gives the works a poetry and harmony that captures the viewer's attention. Dybvig is represented by several galleries around the world. She lives and works in Stavanger.
TF: Kristin, can you tell us a bit about your background and your artistic work?
KHD: It was my enthusiasm for color that sparked my interest in creating. Life has led me to different disciplines: I acquired composition through my work as a graphic designer, the desire for more knowledge and immersion led me to an education in art therapy. The experience of the therapeutic power of color led further and became a need to use it to express the challenges, sorrows and joys of life.
All experience has a transfer value, today I fill the works with the understanding that my personal experiences and memories can have universal relevance. The desire to explore and express all aspects of life has gradually increased until it has become natural and necessary. In my work as a visual artist, I finally get to use all the knowledge and skills I have acquired through my previous careers. It's satisfying, but at the same time it pushes me further and further in the search for interesting subjects and to dig deeper and look further..
TF: Tell us a bit about your work process and the technique you use.
KHD: The slow process of shaping layer upon layer of pastel chalk suits my working mode well. It challenges me to be selective and deliberate in how I build up the compositions and ensure that the colors remain the central focus of each artwork. The colors are the starting point, I start by choosing colors that inspire and are interesting. I like the feel of the dusty pigments and use my hands and fingers to rub the colors into the paper, to mix and shape. In addition, I sometimes use erasers, sandpaper or foam rubber to change or add effects. The gradual process of creating depth and modeling the colors, adding and subtracting, lasts until the vision is captured on paper.
The soft pastels are made up almost entirely of pure pigments and the colors have an exceptional degree of intensity. It's an inspiring medium to work with, the work process required makes it interesting and the beautiful silky matte finish is an added bonus to the finished result.
TF: What inspires you and what themes occupy you as an artist?
KHD: I am attracted to the apparent timelessness I find in nature, the long time that is the counterpart of the short moment we get here. I want to visualize the infinity and beauty of nature. The vulnerability of the hardy that mirrors the fragility that is so connected to our lives, it is the minor key that gives beauty the contrast it needs to be seen, the darkness that makes the light shine, death that gives life vitality.
Ode to Nature
"She brings forth ever new forms
what is there never was
what was never will return
all is new and yet forever old"
In landscapes with no visible traces of human life, timelessness is experienced immediately, it fascinates and inspires and makes it easy to feel connected to times that have been, to the generations before us, to being the result of the lovers who came before.
Unspoiled nature is increasingly being destroyed and reduced. Will the generations after us be able to experience the same timelessness? I want to convey my respect and love for nature, to contrast our fleeting existence with what has been, and to make us aware of what we are in danger of losing. This provides a darker backdrop and contrasts with the timeless beauty that captivates and influences me so strongly.
I work from visual impressions and the experience of places, the concrete memories fade and leave moods or colored impressions. By preserving these on paper, I bring together past and present, the creative process is here and now and the result is for the future.
TF: Tell us a little about your work in Tegnerforbundet's sales department!
KHD: The two works shown on Tegnerforbundet are from the series "Lyrical Landscapes" and "Color Poetry". I have chosen to show two quite different images that both spring from memories. The colors fill the composition with the experiences that time has abstracted. The flashbacks are presented on paper as poetry and lyricism.
"The Dawning" belongs to the "Nightfall series" where I describe the different times of the day through a series of atmospheric images. Here it is early morning and the first light is slowly growing in the east. The delicate tones of the first light of the day are enveloped by a dense darkness, the contrast is poignant. The horizon and a piece of land are revealed as the dawn unfolds, at this moment it is the night that still dominates.
"Colorful Caprice #4" belongs in the "Color Poetry" series. Here the colors flow into each other impulsively and seemingly on a whim, creating a lively expression along with evocative shapes and cheerful lines.
Drama and contrast give the works vitality; the creative challenge is to bring calm and balance into this equation. The lyrical landscapes are not depictions of actual places, they convey moods from inner landscapes and are an expression of a state of mind. The same happens in the abstract works, here the vision is held as pure color mood, as color poetry, and often expresses emotions or memories from long ago. The works that embrace the abstract pulsate with a dynamic energy that is carried by the color composition.
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See available works by Kristin Holm Dybvig in the online shop.
