per adolfsen

Interview with Per Adolfsen

“My mission in life is to try to pass
a piece of myself to the world,
just the way as I experienced when
I saw Edvard Munch for the first time in The National Gallery in Oslo.”

My name is Per Adolfsen, I am an artist. I was born and raised in Denmark, where I still live and work. Like all the other kids, I drew when I was a child. At the age of 13, my sister got married in Norway. Her future son-in-law, who was a school teacher, took me to the Edvard Munch museum and The National Gallery in Oslo. It was here, where I first time became acquainted with the works of Edvard Munch. I was particularly fascinated by the painting called “Puberty, 1914-1916”with a young girl sitting naked on the bed. I was not sure I understood the image, but the combination of beauty, pain and vulnerability captivated me tremendously. It occurred to me that in all Edvard Munch’s work, the artist wanted to give me a picture of the fragility, beauty and pain of life.

I thought to myself, that I draw and paint, and I love it, but later on I became more aware of that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life – with the goal of one day, maybe, also being able to change other people’s perspective and influence young people’s outlook on life.

So I already knew at the age of 13, that this was my mission in life, which is why I have never seen being a visual artist as an profession in the world – but more of a way of living, thinking and expressing.

What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you get started in your career?
I had my first exhibition in a small gallery in my hometown. The gallery was about to close a month later, so they offered me an exhibition, as they were supposed to close the following month anyway. Before that, I had already been painting all those years by myself, so it was really exciting for me to be allowed to show my works to the public. It was the beginning of a long series of exhibitions of works in Denmark – at censored exhibitions and galleries.

I told my parents that I wanted to be an artist, as it was my calling. This caused my father to panic a bit, as he wanted a more secure and financial existence for me. He was a very dominant person of the old school, so he made sure to get me an interview at a bank. I was a little afraid of my father, and went to the interview, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. I got employed at the bank. I chose to do as my father said, because I did not dare to contradict him. In the following years, I worked in the bank during the day, and painted at night. I simply could not go by a day without my paintings and drawings.

Later on, I managed to quit my job at the bank, and then I became a visual artist full-time. I have not done anything else since then. I have not had the desire to do anything else. My mission in life is to try to pass a piece of myself to the world, just the way as I experienced when I saw Edvard Munch for the first time in The National Gallery in Oslo.

What’s your artistic style, and what themes do you explore?
I have done many different things, however, artistic style does not interest me. For me, style is the opposite of art. I have always done the things that occupy me now and then, so these are typically pictures of life around me and myself.

Three years ago, I returned to making landscapes, as I did when I was a boy. I love working the dormers and restrictions, because I think that way you get closer to the core. I chose to put my painting away for a period to go out into nature every day with the mission of making three drawings of my surroundings without aids, or other modern tools. My thought was simply to go out, just like the painters before me did, on whose shoulders I stand, who have done throughout the century. I saw the project as a kind of retention of what- and who I am and what I have come from.

What elements do you need in your workspace, and how do you handle distractions?
Less is more, so I have decided to reduce everything that is possible to reduce in terms of tools, so I thought how can I do it most simply and precisely. I decided on a size of paper, one pencil and a bag to keep it in, and then I went out and sketched my surroundings.

I started quite consciously to revisit the places where I drew as a boy. I sat down in exactly the same place, and then made a drawing of what I saw now. Quite simply, a form of re- connection with myself, where it was not about career or becoming a great artist, but just mainly focus on the action.

What is interesting to me is that this approach, which is essentially nothing in itself, has taught me to understand and to see the world in a clearer way. By doing this every day, from the time I get up until I go to bed, I began to see patterns and systems in nature, which gave me a sense of understanding of how the world is built and how I am built, if you choose to see yourself as a piece of nature. The humility of it – being a small part of something bigger, is in itself a good reason to work in this way.

My inner melancholy, perhaps a slightly dark mind, often makes me see certain things in the dark, in an incredibly beautiful light. I get changed visions of the things I encounter, which I then pass on to the paper or canvas. It’s quite simple, the movements, the patterns, the feeling of where I am – are my inspiration. From an art historical point of view, I am very reluctant to seek inspiration from contemporary art, where I often feel that it is characterized by fashion, the opinions and trends of the time. I usually prefer to see art works in art museums, as it is interesting to see how they saw the world during their time.

I have huge respect for the artists on whose shoulders rest with the thought of how much they have sacrificed and given of themselves – that is the essence of it all.

A specific piece of artwork that holds special meaning to me
The work “der Mönch am Meer” by Caspar David Friedrich had a huge impact on my when I saw it the first time in Berlin. I always liked his work. But seeing it in person, simply made me cry. Looking at the art work, I felt so much extensional pain. Honestly, I did not know the story behind it, and it confused me a bit, as I felt all this pain and sadness in it. Why all the strokes in the painting was very controlled, and not so extremely, expressionistic and rough. I felt the pain and it made me sorrow somehow was within no easy means of action, simply within. It really showed me what art is able to do with us.

Is there a particular project idea that you’ve been dreaming to turn into reality?
I have always visions of projects working in my mind, many. I also have dreams of a few installations that I would like to do. Actually, I see it very clearly in my mind. Some of the things that I dream of - I know will become reality one day, and some of them will just disappear. So when it is done, I’ll show, before that it is not interesting.