Natura Naturata copy — Henrik Nordahl

Natura Naturata Tad Galleri, Oslo 2025

Artist note:
I ask you to be patient with me. It does not come naturally for me to give form to thoughts and words. My language is a visual language, a physical language that you can touch and feel, walk around and approach with your body. I listen with my eyes and express with my hands. It is an ancient language that existed long before there were eyes, yet it is a language we all know. It is a quiet and subtle language that neither demands to be heard nor understood, but which always whisper softly in the background. You hear it as it stretches, unfolds and branches, flows effortlessly and crystallizes into connections and networks. It moves at the speed of light, but is written down in sedimentary layers. By nature it is fleeting, and the moment you think you can make out a silhouette it dissolves and blends out.

About the exhibition:
The material used to create the works for this exhibition is rolls of drywall paper paper, conventionally used to join plastersheets together. Nordahl has developed a technique to give shape to these rolls by pulling out the center of the roll like a telescope. This simple action completely changes the appearance of the roll and the result resembles something one might find in nature: a horn, a shell, a seed or a sprout of some kind. The shape is recognizable, yet ambiguous. He repeats this cone shape and compositions them together in different constellations. The visual language draws inspiration from universal principles found in nature: the concept of repeating one form in different compositions that generate an organic architecture. The works are the result of imitating biosemiotic mechanisms found in our surroundings, in an attempt to decode and open up the possibilities of interpreting nature's own way of expressing itself.

Nordahl is interested in the stories that materials and form can carry and he tries to find ways to highlight these stories in his interaction with the material. We respond emotionally to everything we surround ourselves with and we attach these things to our language and give them meaning, and this shapes our relationship with these objects. In a capitalist and consumer-oriented age, however, we tend to ‘dumb down’ materials, and we become alienated from the long life span of everyday objects. We mass-produce simple geometric shapes with a utilitarian approach to create things that are practical and maximize utility. But we have not been making objects for long compared to nature, which has been making forms for millions of years, and there is still endless potential in how we approach materials and form. Nordahl looks at the connection between the seemingly chaotic nature of natural form and man-made structures to build a relationship. The sculptures are an attempt to blur the boundaries between natural systems and modern form to create a visual register of time that is simultaneously past, present and future. He wants to create a better understanding of materials, make us more aware, more curious, more respectful of them and expand our understanding beyond their conventional state of use.

24/04/2025