Alvi (and the forest) | Alvi Östgård/Oestgaard’s paintings

AN ARIZONIAN STUDIO

oct 25th - dec 17th, 2024

The two months of autumn, Alvi Östgård has spent painting in the dry wilderness of Arizona, exploring its natural material through her well known harvesting routine. She has gathered and prepped red soil from the various mountains to use with and for her oil paints, whilst taking inspiration from the art scene in the state at the moment -- (fumbling and) finding new ways to express her nordic mysticism through the land of the western USA.

She has explored iron rich soils resulting in reds and oranges, and marble dust in her light tones to create a cloudy and chalky consistency. In her ongoing series of Arizonian paintings, new colors and textures play the central role.

"This Western environment has been unfamiliar in all senses; a dusty and dry landscape under open sky unknown to wind. It has been two months now, and I have just know started understanding what is around me."

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Natural paints

"Mistletoe"

The 10th of October Alvi graduated with honors from Rome University of Fine Arts with a BFA in Painting. It resulted in an enormous project in the shape of a little book.

The research stretched over two years, diving into Nordic heritage and culture — folklore, mythology, superstition, mysticism, spirituality and herbalism. "Mistletoe" became a book composed of three parts; a research on nature’s impact on Nordic folklore and myths and a harvest of local plant pigments, sewn together through a narrative of a girl growing up in a Norwegian landscape full with mysterious superstitions and elf kings.

It is a profound reflection on the relationship between human and nature, through ancient times and up to the present moment. The book is printed on locally sourced paper, and bound with handmade cotton paper dyed with plants and trees from the Norwegian forest.

It marks the beginning of a new epoke in Alvis artistic endeavors, harvesting, preparing and using natural materials of cultural importance.