Interview: Ingunn Glomnes Johansen
Luca Curci talks with Ingunn Glomnes Johansen during ALCHEMIC BODY at THE LINE Contemporary Art Space.

I started my formal art education at Einar Granum art school in Oslo (1983) and have since been to a number of different courses, schools and art genre. Like many other women, I got married, had children and my work as an artist was put on hold. After a period of 2007-2016 where I mainly spent time on different types of glasswork, I went back to full-time art school for one year and nowadays I work mostly with painting and graphics. I was born in 1960, live and work in Oslo, Norway. I work with painting, graphics and sculpture/casting/installation and glass.

Luca Curci – What is art for you?
Ingunn Glomnes Johansen – To me, art is communicative. The work has to invite to communication and engagement.

LC – Which subject are you working on?
IGJ – I am currently working on the preparation of paintings and graphics for a separate exhibition in 2020, with the theme “belonging”.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
IGJ – I find inspiration in my life and in my reactions to what I see around me. I am concerned with man’s longing to understand his own life. I like to mix the figurative with the non-figurative by trying out different techniques on veneer, canvas, cardboard, collage and assembly techniques. This is to investigate how different materials work / do not work together.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
IGJ – My creative process starts when I see or feel something I want to express. I can find this in nature, in the interaction between people, really everywhere. Then I start working; making sketches, take notes and trying out different techniques in the same theme. I started my art education a long time ago, but it was put on hold. Finally, I have the time to be a full-time artist, so now it’s all about doing the work and the most difficult part; getting it out. Financially, I think it is as difficult today to live as an artist as it has always been.

LC – Which art themes do you pursue? What is your preferred subject, if there is any?
IGJ – Yes, in a way they are. The theme is about man’s sense of desolation and his quest for belonging.

LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the festival?
IGJ – I like the theme of the festival because it is open and allows for different interpretations.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the festival’s theme?
IGJ – The painting I chose to exhibit is titled “Let go”. It is about everything that hinders us to be free. The girl is not separated, but a part of her surroundings she tries to get rid of. So I think it fits the festival’s theme.

LC – What is your idea about ITSLIQUID Group?
IGJ – I think the service you provide is responsive and professional.

LC – Do you think ITSLIQUID Group can represent an opportunity for artists?
IGJ – I believe that ITSLIQUID Group is important for artists. In this way, we have the opportunity to be introduced, represented with our works and made visible.