Artist Kristi Ylvisaker did her graduate work in painting at the University of Iowa and studied at the New York Studio School during the late '60s. She has lived in Norway for more than thirty years. Ylvisaker is a member of the Norwegian Organization of Professional Artists and is widely commissioned and exhibited. This is her third show to travel to the United States.Writer Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen holds graduate degrees from the University of Iowa in non-fiction writing and from Harvard Divinity School in theological studies. She writes, teaches, edits, and manages Zion Publishing from her home in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Inspiration
The idea for a collaborative effort came as a vision and quickly became an imperative. Working on their respective sides of the Atlantic, Ylvisaker and Nilsen first read books of poetry by Denise Levertov, noting lines that were, for them, the most evocative. Of course there were hundreds, representing a number of conceptual areas. The necessary decision to focus on one conceptual area, thus eliminating many favorite quotes, was painful. But once they decided on a personal and cultural cycle representing the journey from innocence or, perhaps, ignorance through the dark places of the psyche and out into a mature serenity, the exhibit took shape.
While Ylvisaker worked on her visual response to the poetry, Nilsen struggled with her prose "spinoff," to use Levertov's descriptor. Through email they kept in touch, each letting the work of the other infuse her own work. For instance, upon seeing a picture of the painting flowing from the Levertov quote, I'll chance the pilgrim sandals, Nilsen shaped her thoughts with words like "cloaked" and "afoot," so the final response is: "The pilgrim sets forth, tethered to the past by unseen bonds of memory, yet cloaked in hope, afoot in sandals of determination, trudging toward something new."
Then, in the fall of 2004, the sisters met in Iowa and finished the project. In her book, Breathing the Water, which contains poems inspired by other artists, Levertov describes such spinoffs. "A 'spinoff,' then, is a verbal construct which neither describes nor comments but moves off at a tangent to, or parallel with, its inspiration."
Ylvisaker and Nilsen are deeply grateful to New Directions Publishing Corporation for permission to use the Levertov quotations.
The Exhibit
Each painting in the series of 24 works is 32" tall and 23" wide. The colors in the cycle move from white and light creams through dense, dark colors and out into ethereal blues and cool lights.
Similarly, the thought progression of prose and poetry moves from innocence to awe and in between struggles with the illusive quality of peace in our world. The intensity of color combined with tight and powerful thoughts inspires viewers to explore their own unique responses, thus continuing the flow of creative energy.
Specific Details about the Exhibit:
Number of Paintings: 24
Size of Paintings: 32" x 23"
Frames:
Black wood, 2" deep with paintings floated on black mat behind plexiglass.
Recommended Gallery Space:
Because the color and thought of the paintings move in a cycle, the best exhibit space would be a room where viewers can move easily from beginning to end.
Costs to Gallery:
The framed and crated paintings will be shipped for a time period agreed upon by the gallery and the artists. The gallery is responsible for promotion, educational opportunities connected to the exhibit, return shipping costs and insurance on the paintings while they are on exhibit and in transit, plus any honorarium ordinarily given artists.
To Preview the Exhibit:
The exhibit is available on CDROM for preview. To receive your copy, call Mary Nilsen at: 1-800-996-2777 or email at: maryenilsen@aol.com
To Order 8" x 10" prints: Click here for a printer-friendly order form.
Nude Truths is available in book form. Click here for description & order info
