MARIANNE BERG

The exhibition shows 14 sculptures with wood as the main material. Marianne Berg works sculpturally and material-based, alternating between different materials such as wood, epoxy, plaster, concrete, bronze etc. She studies the properties and expressions of different materials and focuses on the interaction between materials.

Some objects bend, curve, and twist in different directions. They bend against a surface or form a connection between planes at different levels. The sculptures strive to be in a form of balance, either horizontally or vertically. Berg's focus on the connection between nature and culture led to a series of numbered sculptures she calls KOBLING (LINKS). The wood materials are processed to a greater or lesser extent. The main shape consists of plywood that is glued together into larger blocks and then shaped with various machines and hand tools. The plywood shape is then paired with a new element that represents natural or processed materials from the forest – such as pine bark and paper. In a broader sense, paper can symbolize knowledge and bark protection.

Nature is an important source of inspiration, but also common man-made elements we surround ourselves with. It can be an architectural element, a machine part, a tool, large or small. She studies organic shapes and geometric shapes in change, motion, light refraction, transparency, textures, and colours.

The sculptures FELT I, II, III, DER and HER, and FORTELLING I and III are made by an American cypress from the Botanical Garden in Bergen that had to be felled after Storm Nina in 2015. After 7 years of drought in Marianne Berg's warehouse, logs were divided, sawn and reshaped – and reused. There were various series inspired by modernist architecture. More or less recognizable forms that caricature or allude to real constructions, without being so. Massive, but with light openings and extensions / projections. Some of the sculptures are free from real buildings. Berg's connection to local trees in her area, which must be felled for various reasons, is important in her oeuvre. She often has knowledge of the wood's provenance and/or an emotional attachment to the logs she processes.   

Her latest series of works, in which oak piles and plexiglass are assembled into ambiguous architectural constructions, do not originate from dramatic wooden overturns, but are processed remains from a carpentry workshop. The edifices are fictitious constructions. It is carried, rested, and lifted.

Marianne Berg has carried out several public and private commissions and has been artistic consultant for KORO. She has had solo exhibitions at, among others, RAM gallery Oslo, Kunstbanken Hamar and Format/Kraft Bergen. Marianne Berg has been purchased by, among others. Nordenfjeldske kunstindustrimuseum, Kode/Vestlandske kunstindustrimuseum and the University of Bergen.