Heidi Rødstøl
Billedkunstner

Jeg jobber med stedspesifikk og temporær visuell utforsking av ulike lokaler, det være seg etablerte utstillingsrom, tomme bygninger eller andre rom jeg får tilgang til. Ofte er dette det man kan kalle samtidsruiner, rom som har utspilt sin funksjon som bolig, næringsbygg el. Dette kan innebære en grad av forfall, samtidig som det med dette finnes spor de menneskene og den aktiviteten rommene har vært beregnet på og brukt til. I dette arbeidet er jeg opptatt av fravær og nærvær. Spor og fortellinger om levd liv, både reelle, men også det vi dikter inn i dem. Jeg er også opptatt av dekonstruksjon og det forgjengelige i våre nære omgivelser. Hva er det vi definerer som forfall og hva sier dette om oss? I mine arbeider er mennesker fraværende, men deres tilstedeværelse blir synlig nærmest som indisier. Rommene blir også visuelle strukturer vi kan plassere våre egne erfaringer og historier i.

 

Heidi Rødstøl grew up on the North west coast of Norway and studied fine arts at the Art  Academy in Bergen. She also studied art, design and architecture at Bergen Art School.

Ever since her student days , Heidi Rødstøl has shown a special interest in space, and how relations in space are perceived and understood. This has resulted in various series of works where she revises and examines specific situations through three-dimensional drawings, installations and photography. Small but significant changes of  sensory experience is central.
An example of this can be seen is the Eclipse", where the specific room is painted as if it were a  negative. All items in the room are painted and physically inverted, golden pine paneling are laboriously painted blue with bright knots, light sources are being replaced by black etc. Then the room was photographed and inverted once again. The final photos depict the room in what is percieved to be its original coulors, yet there is something subtle and slightly disturbing, as the light sources are dark and the shadows are light, 
Heidi Rødstøl have developed discreet language in a consistent and credible manner. In all contexts the implements are simple, but the focus clear

 

"My projects are temporary and site specific investigations and manipulations of rooms.

Through various techniques I create spatial paintings/ installations that can be experienced  both three-dimensional, and deconstructed and abstract, depending on the view point.

The works relates to the surroundings and infiltrate these. The three-dimential paintings are examinations of the site`s /room's function and identity, and thematizes space and it`s structure. I am also concerned about contradictions, like presence / absence, construction / deconstruction and about how we interpret and organize sensory information. "