Welcome to the opening on Friday the 8th of November, 17-20h.
In the exhibition Phytomorphic Phantasies by Kim Laybourn nature is presented as a subject and an active participant. Nature is brought to the foreground, placed in focus, rather than being set aside, as a decorative backdrop for human actors. Laybourn works with the human-centric worldview and concept of nature, as well as the tension between the authentic and the unnatural, which influences how we approach everything from ecosystems and biodiversity, production and resources, to gender and sexuality.
In Laybourn’s work nature does not allow itself to be limited. Here there are plants that dream and imagine. Dreaming of being witches in the ancient city of Lutetia, of being free dancers or imagining being a bird with flapping wings og leafs. Laybourn uses this to form notions of a heightened reality, which examines the human position, by virtue of everything we touch, and which surrounds and shapes us. If the language is limited and the myths and stories few, then one must give up searching, and instead create and tell on one’s own.
Kim Laybourn holds a MFA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo. In recent years, Laybourn has exhibited solo and in group exhibitions, these include: Høstutstillingen 2024, The state's 137th art exhibition, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Situations (2024), NADA East Broadway, New York City, New York, USA; Cacotopia 08: Lumen Prize Shortlisted Artists 2023 (2023), Annka Kultys Gallery, London, United Kingdom; Østlandsutstillingen 2023 (2023), Østfold kunstsenter, Fredrikstad, Buskerud Kunstsenter, Drammen, Norway; Abundance (2023), The 46th edition of Tendenser biennial, Galleri F 15, Moss, Norway; Not So Sacred Grove (2022), Babel, Trondheim, Norway; I Call it Art (2022), The National Museum, Oslo, Norway; The Temporary Institute of Coexistence (2022), Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland; The Significant Other (2020), PODIUM, Oslo, Norway.
The exhibition is realised in cooperation with Fond for Lyd och Bilde, Arts Council Norway, Nordiska Ministerrådet, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Office for Contemporary Art Norway.
Kim Laybourn is currently part of IASPIS Artist in residence in Göteborg.
Hendrik Zeitler
With support from
