Elisabeth Mathisen
Elisabeth Mathisen is a Norwegian visual artist, born in Oslo in 1961. She trained at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and works in Fredrikstad.
From printmaking to several artistic languages
Mathisen entered the academy's printmaking department in 1989 and later worked with performance, video, text and drawing. Her work connects the body, language and everyday actions. In Sorgarbeider at Kunstnerforbundet in 2021, eyes, hands and mouths met abstract forms in images addressing closeness and loss.
Drawing also underpins the prints. Presenting RISS! in 2021, Østfold kunstsenter explained the importance of drypoint: the technique produces both fine and velvety lines. Nature, memories, time and language were highlighted as themes in the work of this period.
In an interview with Østfold kunstsenter, Mathisen discusses the meeting of abstract and figurative imagery and the care she takes over titles. It documents the drypoints Pust from 2019 and Under huden from 2020. Titles offer a way into the images without fixing a single interpretation.
Memories in a public space
For Fredrikstad District Court, Mathisen assembled thirteen prints under the collective title Minner. Completed in 2020, the project comprises black-and-white drypoints in which nature, hands, houses and plants meet more abstract forms, as KORO describes. The images were selected, and partly created, for the waiting room.
Each impression requires precise identification. KORO's record for Minner (Sammenkoblet) dates the work to 2020 and lists drypoint on intaglio printing paper, numbered 1/10, measuring 30 x 24 cm. These details apply to the catalogued impression and must not be transferred to other images or editions.
Prints, drawings and documentation
When buying, establish whether the object is a drawing, an original print or a reproduction. For a drypoint, document the sheet, any signature, title and numbering. A digital or photographic reproduction is made differently from an impression taken from the printing plate. Request sheet and image dimensions and information about discolouration, water stains, tears, cockling and framing. Provenance from the artist, exhibition venue or an earlier purchase helps connect the information to the actual impression.
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