Sølvi Marie Waterloo Normannsen

Sølvi Marie Waterloo Normannsen (1965) was born in Trondheim, Norway. She is deeply connected with the remoteness and desolation of landscapes of her native home. The vastness of snow, mountains, water, forests, sky, horizons, night and day fill her works and express her own unique style allowing the viewer to reflect spiritually and philosophically.

Most of Sølvi’s works are abstracted versions of her own reflections, impressions, memories and the remembrances of those northern landscapes and what they represent. Her works are also inspired by a childhood when her father travelled to the outer reaches of the north, near the North Pole, in Spitsbergen, Svalbard. For years, during her formative years, Sølvi longed for her father and the vastness of where he lived and worked. She applies paint and other materials to her canvas to resurrect threads of her childhood and the persistent, deep attraction to the northern landscape.

Remnants of hard labor on the outer edges of civilization where landscapes are tranquil and reflective are the major themes in Sølvi’s work. These spaces are symbolized by endless light, deep darkness and flashes of color. A sudden glimpse of a structure, a color, or ancient flaking paint on a concrete wall inspire Sølvi’s works. Sometimes calculated, and at other times spontaneous, harsh lines and edges connect the vast space of her landscapes.

Sølvi’s artistic process requires physicality where holes, cuts, patterns and pits are created. Paint is applied on linen with rags from worn-out t-shirts, rolls, sticks, pencils and oil pastels which cover the surface. Like the work of her ancestors in the great north, Sølvi scrapes, rubs, applies new layers and washes them away in repeated motions. Pigments seep into the cracks and crevasses etched into each canvas and mix with the earth, sand and gesso of Sølvi’s native Norway to create the northern ethos.

Sølvi’s works have been exhibited throughout Norway and in Australia. Her works have been acquired by corporations, government institutions, art-lovers and collectors fascinated with the mysteries and otherworldliness of the north that are reflected in Sølvi’s works.