For her solo exhibition Somethingness, Kamilla Omavuori has created a series of large-scale paintings on linen. The paintings are built around an underlying structure of lines, diagonals, and axes of symmetry which, together with marks of colour, create rhythms. At times, they can be read as notations or visual vibrations. Her process begins by translating a sketch into a measured mapping of the surface, which she then develops on the canvas using thin, white and grey lines. This underlying structure becomes the starting point for a more spontaneous and intuitive application of colour, though not always.

Omavuori’s studio, surrounded by forest and with windows overlooking a small valley, is not connected to the power grid. This makes her dependent on daylight and contributes to a meditative painting process. Omavuori is interested in consciousness and consciousness studies. The painting takes shape through the interaction and entanglement of materials and processes. It is about uncovering what is already there, rather than adding illusions. The initial drawing creates structures to which she can respond more intuitively; they are not there as a recipe to be followed, but rather as an underlying pattern that she can follow, or break away from.

The paintings are subdued, with the colour and weave of the linen canvas remaining visible. The colours are also drawn from nature; artists’ pigments have traditionally been made from plants, earth metals, and minerals, and one might suspect that the colours on the canvases are those she encounters in the forest outside her studio. The paintings possess a sense of stillness, while at the same time carrying something resonant. The works Omavuori presents at LNM are scaled in relation to the body. Yet they are small enough that she can work on them using only her own arms and hands. She can take in the entire surface by stepping two paces back. And they are large enough to reach the viewer’s body before they reach the mind.

Kamilla Omavuori (b. 1989) lives and works in Agder. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2015) and a master’s degree from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2017). Omavuori works with painting, sculpture, and analogue photography. Her work has been exhibited at, among others, the National Museum, the Norwegian Association of Sculptors, Agder Kunstsenter, Kunstnerforbundet, Preus Museum, CCCOD Tours, and Kunstnernes Hus. Omavuori’s work has been acquired by the National Museum, Preus Museum, and Sogn og Fjordane Kunstmuseum.

Click here to view a PDF presentation of Kamilla Omavuori's exhibition "Somethingness" (Norwegian).