COCOON

Sonya (Female character in Dostoyevsky´s Crime and punishment)

EDVARDA ASLAKSEN BRAANAAS

Today is Norway´s National Day "Hipp Hipp Hurra" and I therefore would love to bring forth a wonderful Norwegian Artist to you. Since I started this blog I have met a lot of inspiring people and Edvarda is one of them. I am so excited to have been introduced to you Edvarda:)

What would Jesus do

While I am going through Edvarda´s paintings I am thinking. Wow! This is bound to be difficult.

How am I going to pick the right ones to show you when there are so many great exciting paintings to pick from?

I came down to these 7 paintings and here is why.

"Sonya" From the Dostoyevsky series, because she is one of my favorite characters, and "Crime and Punishment" is my favorite Dostoyevsky novel. The innocence - the red shoe....

One of the great factors with Edvarda is that she paints stories like in:

"What would Jesus do"

This is one of Edvardas main works. We are invited to a party set in a church, where the scene is very much reminiscent of the renaissance-master Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco ”The last supper” from the end of the 14th century. Although there is a strong parallell to LDV, the scene created by Edvarda also has several marked differences.When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve. And while they where eating, he said ”I’ll tell you the truth, one of you will betray me”Edvarda uses this very famous story and recreates the scenario in the painting, but the ritual itself has a different character. The episode in WWJD? is a representation of man in a worldly role, as opposed to a religious role, from conception until death. Whether we are male or female, old or young, we are all part of humanity, all playing a part in the good and evil of our time. As human beings, we must all bear the consequences of sin and betrayal, whether we are Peter when the cock crows for the third time on Easter Day, or whether we are the man or woman of today. Edvardas message is not one of condemnation and judgement but of acceptance and understanding. As she deals with multiple scenarios and plays with codes from both past and present, her intention is to create a motif that exists independent of time - a motif that we can relate to, both as people of today, and in the future. The characters who meet us in WWJD? are like puppets in a puppetshow. They are controlled by the puppet-master, and this puppet-master is none other than the artist herself. Edvarda’s masterpiece is built upon one of the most influential stories of our time, and by adding touches from her own life and personal experiences to the classical scenario, she creates a  work of art which gives us a visual enlightenment of modern reflection and understanding.

(Taken from her web site)

Revealing virginity

"Revealing Virginity" I picked for it´s honesty, the landscape reflecting the subject. At the same time as I feel sorry for the woman being revealed, I also feel the strength of the union between the women. There is a sense of both fear and harmony.

Cocoon

"Cocoon" My man calls me "Schmetterling" so this is an obvious choice for me... When I see this I think the world is at their feet but not without struggle, friendship, fashion and passion.

Airport 2050

"Airport" Seeing the Guggenheim like edifice in the background I am thinking yes bring more of these buildings into the future of Airports. Traveling is a passion and I hope it will be this stylish in the future, right now the airports close to me are all dreary.  

Hermanas

"Hermanas" makes me immediately think of friendship and laying the truth bare, to trust in one another. Although i think it possibly could be two other things... Girls from the Spanish city Hermanas or based on a movie called "Hermanas" directed by Julia Solomonff about two sisters.

Young girl in the position of doing nothing

"Young girl in the position for doing nothing" I picked for its fantastic humored sexuality.

As you understand my choices are completely subjective and I have not even touched her drawings... which has amusing titles like "I am a low woman, I´m a violent woman" "Bad Ass" and "We are walking a fragile path".

You just have to go and look at her enormous productivity yourself: Edvarda

Once again Edvarda so happy I was introduced to you:)