11-24 May LOCUS present drawings by ArtLego artist Tanja Thorjussen, together with works from Javier Barrios (MX/GT/NO), Amelia Beavis-Harrison (UK), Thale Fastvold (NO) and Marianne Darlén Solhaugstrand (NO) at Luda Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia. We highly recommend the exhibition for those of you who are fortunate enough to be in St. Petersburg at the time.
Thorjussen will exhibit Tupilaq Totem (detail shown), a 210 cm x 71 cm long pencil drawing, the first in her new Tupilaq motives series.
Thorjussen finds her inspiration from nature and myths, often from the northern hemisphere. The Tupilaq series has it´s base in a mythological creature in Inuit and Greenland culture, which is created by mixing materials from plants, animals and humans with a spell. The Tupilaq can protect or harm depending on whom they meet.
In Alaska a totem is traditionally a carved wooden pole that shows different totem animals and creatures, which together tell the story of a family or clan.
Thorjussen´s drawings are also inspired by woodcarvings from the Viking period where creatures hold on to each other while travelling in the underworld.
By drawing and observing the Tupilaq she wish to meditate on and investigate the shamanistic bond between animal, nature and human. The intention of her Tupilaq´s is to protect nature from harm.
LOCUS is a nomadic and fluctuating entity, which works site and time specific on creating exhibitions. The works in this exhibition will touch upon the themes of alchemy, mythology, shamanism, the arctic region and transformation. LOCUS has exhibited nationally and internationally in cities such as New York, Oslo, Trondheim, Miami and Stavanger. Upcoming projects will take place in New York, Oslo and Stamsund.
LUDA gallery is an artist run gallery space created by the artist and curator Peter Belyi. The art space was originally created as a pop-up space in 2009, showcasing emerging St Petersburg art. The eponymous ‘Luda’, a local entrepreneur and patron of contemporary art donated The current space. In its new form beginning in 2014, LUDA is focusing on bringing emerging independent contemporary art to St Petersburg from countries around the world and from the provincial regions of Russia. LUDA aim to show, that which would otherwise remain unseen.
