NOCTURNAL VISIONS, 2005
Hå Old Vicarage, Hå and Bomuldsfabriken kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
Installation and photography

The idea for this work sprang from the psychological phenomenon of hypnagogic dreams, a highly creative state between sleep and consciousness where images from your physical surroundings merge with imaginary images from dreams.

This installation piece consisted of two stuffed white swans. Their wings spread, they were suspended above an old mattress of the Norwegian make ‘Svane’ (swan), with embroidered swan images. The swans were positioned as if about to fly out of the room, carrying white sheets and bedclothes in their beaks. The tableau was lit according to the classical chiaroscuro technique to enhance the drama of the act of flight, i.e. flying and fleeing.

“Beauty’s Swan Song”, the title of this piece, suggests the mourning for beauty as a phenomenon that is forced to reinvent itself to accommodate to the changes of time.