The results of my residence in Eigersund consisted of five “street matrices” representing material damages from a flood, day to day life objects that would be lost, destroyed or affected by the natural elements. I deconstructed the shape of these objects through drawing and carve them in wooden panels in the way of a woodcut matrix*. 

I play with the idea of animism, or the attribution of a soul to inanimate objects, in this case. I think in certain symbolic aspects of the effects of a traumatic event or the new shapes under wich things survive a disaster. The materials these object abstractions would contain or be made of (Water, metal, paper, plastic, soap, gasoline…) made me think in the ways the objects we create contaminates and alter nature as well.
Because of the patterns of sea currents in the cost of Rogaland, big amounts of materials are dragged constantly to the beaches of the area. In my walks, I pick up plates of draft wood with interesting shapes I can carve or print directly. A certain kind of plywood seems to resist who knows how long and extreme travels through the north sea, getting perfectly rounded edges and holes by the erosion of seawater and collision with rocks. In the end, I used the same material to create these pieces.
I also was inspired by Edvard Munch’s so-called “Hestekur” (horse cure), his curious habit of abandoning his works outdoors, maybe to add to the paintings the effects that the natural elements caused on them. For this project, I took the woodblocks out of their usual end: to be canceled or stored in the artist’s studios or museums, and I place them in the streets. Matrices are rarely exhibited as independent pieces. The woodcuts are slightly tridimensional or sculptural and with a tactile feel. FLOOD pieces are basically relief graffitti you can touch.

I consider the possibility of print the plates in the future and reflect the changes in the surface after several years of exposure. If they stand the test of time and rough weather. One of the plates is immediately destroyed and cracked on half, another one becomes lost in the demolition of the fishermen store where it was placed.

The project was accompanied by a small mural, an outdoor show on relief printing and an exhibition of preparatory sketches and prints for the project.

* Matrix: Object upon which a design has been formed and which is then used to make an impression on a piece of paper, creating a print. Normally a woodblock, a metal plate, or lithographic stone, depending on the technique, can be used as a matrix. The matrices are called for “cancellation” (a mark that will alter the image in next prints and avoid later fake editions) or simple destruction after finish a limited edition of prints. In the case of woodcuts, conservation of matrices has been recommended by experts in Printmaking, since they are enduring and particularly beautiful.