Art at mencke&vagnby
Karina Mencke Vagnby: photoartist, painter, sculptor and designer
“hidden details of the ordinary”
I am intrigued by ordinary things, and spellbound by hidden beauty, you wouldn't normally recognize. While working with my photoart, paintings and sculptures, I literally zoom into a chosen object, to crystallize out details of simple beauty. For this exhibition I took photos of a fishermen´s workshop in Skagen, Denmark, getting utterly mesmerized with fish-waste! I am in a constant search of sense in apparently useless and unnoticed spaces: hidden details of the ordinary.
Embracing my fascination of hidden and unseen details, I simultaneously work with different media, like photoart, oil paintings, ceramic sculptures and ink drawings. Shape and color evidently unite these very different types of media.
A family of 2D and 3D art pieces, created by the hidden detail of the ordinary.
"I create my “hidden details of the ordinary”, to generate dream-spaces of imagination. A place and time to unwind the busy mind and to recline within a monochrome, beautiful world of basic, yet complex color and shape, inviting imagination to take a small journey into embracing hidden scapes of art:
places for the mind to wander and to wonder.”
-Karina Mencke Vagnby, artist-
Paintings:
I like to play with size, color and surface and somehow I always disliked paintbrushes, so I spackle and scratch in numerous layers, using wooden sticks, bird feathers, forks and spatulas, freely mixing oil colors, acrylics and ink. My paintings usually emerge through a series of processes within a couple of months or longer, starting with the photography of any chosen object, digital treatment, old-school sketch transfer to canvas and finally the numerous layers of paint.
Sculptures:Like in all media i work with, I like to play with size, color and surface.
My sculptures emerge through a playful approach to everyday objects and a reinterpretation and simplification of details of the chosen object. I start with the photography of any chosen object, digital treatment, sketches and sketch-models, and finally forming the chosen shapes. Also here my fascination lies in the details of real objects, that I transform into more simple, organic shapes, inviting a journey into calmness and curiosity, a place for the mind to wander and to wonder.
Photoart:
A natural curiosity lets me explore everyday details, people in general don`t get to discover or simply don´t see in this world full of information and impressions. I use my camera or phone to capture details of e.g. fishwaste, machines, toys, bodyparts, animals, buildings and any other ordinary thing that captures my attention. Playing with colors, sizes, light, shadow and surfaces, I create transformations into colorful dreamlike visions.
My Photoart pieces usually emerge through a series of processes, starting with the photography of any chosen object, sketches, digital treatment, tests, and the final pieces printed and mounted with an acrylic plate on top to create extra depth and shine, emphasizing the colorful details, pulling the observer close!