Lars Aurtande (1973) has been a member of Tegnerforbundet since 2000. He has extensive experience as an illustrator for picture books, school books and magazines. In parallel, Aurtande has worked extensively on his own artistic projects. With a limited color palette and a detailed line, he creates images populated by mythical creatures from seemingly mythological or prehistoric times. These creatures find themselves in a fairytale world where nature and technology meet. References to folklore, science fiction and classic comic book aesthetics are a recurring theme in Aurtande's drawings. Lars Aurtande lives and works at Nesodden. More information can be found here.
TF: Can you tell us a little about your artistic work?
LA: I have previously worked mostly with illustration, and especially editorial illustration for magazines, newspapers and picture books. I am probably considered a fairly versatile artist, and have "several legs to stand on". I have previously also worked a lot with three-dimensional objects such as puppetry, scenography and various models and props for commercials.
In recent years, I have almost exclusively concentrated on visual art and my own exhibition projects. My works range from sculpture to screen printing and ink drawing.
TF: How do you use drawing in your work? Tell us a little about your work process!
LA: I rarely walk out the door at home without a Pentel brush in my pocket. Sketchbook and small daily drawings are incredibly important to me. In this way, I create a kind of herbarium of rehearsed figures that I use further in my larger works.
Mostly I draw directly on paper with felt-tip pens without any kind of sketching. I like to start a job without any sketch or plan. It's a bit like opening an unknown door, and then seeing what's hiding behind. The times I draw sketches, I often think they destroy the energy in the line, or I censor myself. I do not care about drawing errors or anatomical inaccuracies - the line, the energy and the unexpected that emerges are the most important.
TF: What inspires you? Do you work from a theme?
LA: Nothing inspires me more than nature. I run a lot and spend many hours in the woods every week. Inspiration from there are often branches, cones, trees and stumps that often recur in my works. These objects usually mix with imaginary machines and fable creatures. I have also been very interested in fairy tales and folklore. Visual communication is a powerful form of expression, and I am a fan of creating art that tells stories without "instructions". Themes in my works have long been machines and nature in conflict with each other. I have now realized that technology is here to stay, and in the future I will investigate how I can rather make technology, animals and nature live in symbiosis.
TF: What are you currently working on?
LA: I have just received a large decorating assignment at a newly built school in Bodø. Sketches and planning are well underway, and I'm really looking forward to starting work on site. The assignment consists of two relatively large murals, and I will work in a mixed technique of painted background surfaces and detailed drawn figures of fable creatures and machines that I have enjoyed working with for a long period now.
Otherwise, I have just opened a new solo exhibition at Østfold Art Center which is empty. May 26 I am also working on planning a couple of new silkscreen prints before a new exhibition in Haugesund and the graphics festival IMPRINT this spring.
I must also say that in addition to my own art projects, together with my colleague Bianca Boege, I work on curating an exhibition with the fantastic cartoonist Thore Hanssen which will be shown at Avistegnernes hus in Drøbak after the summer.
TF: What does drawing mean for you / your work?
LA: Drawing means everything in my work. Whether I work with sculpture, silkscreen or illustration. It is with drawing in the sketchbook or directly on paper, all my good ideas arise. Drawing has become my second mother tongue. The visual language expresses thoughts and ideas in a different way than written or spoken language, and it feels like I understand things better by drawing.
TF: Tell us a little about your work in Tegnerforbundet's sales department!
LA: My work in the sales department is typical drawings I sit down and do after a nice trip. Listening to music, and letting the marker surprise me with what appears on paper. I like to mix nature studies with imaginary creatures and surreal elements that make the viewer wonder.
***
Available works by Lars Aurtande in Tegnerforbundet's sales department and online store here .
