Anne Margrethe Hjelvik lives at Nesodden, Oslo. She is a painter known for her untraditional use of motives. Making use of elements of surrealism, Anne creates perspective and room in her paintings. She has always been creative and had an urge for expressing herself through art. Unfortunately, it took a bit of time before Anne was ready and able to express her inner creativity in a productive way. “Rounding 45, I needed to take a pause and reconsider my life. After many years working in the music industry I found myself wondering if I was running out of time. I had reached a crossroad. I could either choose to follow the same path, the safe choice of life, or I could allow my inner artist to blossom. I decided to make a leap of faith – it was now or never”, Anne says. Thus in 2003 she entered the art program at Nydalen Kunstskole in Oslo, and felt revitalized.
Anne describes her studies as a sort of awakening. She had always been fond of, and interested in art, but for the first time in her life Anne realized that her greatest inspiration came from within. The program allowed her to start from scratch, learning color combinations, shape and compositions. The art classes mainly focused on abstract, non figurative compositions. Despite this, Anne soon realized that her greatest talents were within figuration.
Now, countless paintings and exhibitions later, her paintings tend to exhibit a mix of figuration and abstraction. Being a team player, Anne shares a studio with a group of visual artist. According to her, the fellowship keeps her on her toes and continuously inspires to further development.
Inspired by music
I love working in my studio. I always put on loud and busy music, and allow myself to experiment with colors and brushes while using the music´s energy as fuel. The rythm allows me to enter into my own private bubble, where time and space seize to exist. I usually warm up with heavy rhythms, before tuning into more calm and soothing music for the finishing touches, Anne says.
Anne explains how pictures or ideas that from into new paintings seemingly hits her without any warning. Actually, they tend to arrive around the time she goes to sleep at night or while waking up in the morning. When the idea hits her, she rushes to make a note of it, to avoid her ideas from slipping away during the night. That is why she always keeps a notebook close to her bed.
Anne was born and raised at the stunning northwestern coast of Norway, an area known for tall and steep mountain walls, deep, beautiful and calm fjords, and the wild and dramatic sea. The contrasting and ever-changing scenery that influenced Anne´s childhood in such a profound way still tends to be reflected in the expression of her paintings. As a result, Anne´s surreal motives always have a clearly defined nerve and contrasting elements.
Although loving surrealism and contrasting elements, she also has a strong search for peace and harmony within herself. She often finds herself creating painting that incorporate and balance between harmony and disorder. This is Anne´s way of expressing what most people can relate to, the search for peace and harmony in a life filled with stress and demands. Her message is that everyone has to stop once in a while to reflect on where they are headed with their life, and whether their choices are bringing them closer to where they want to be.
In dialog with the viewers
I want to use my paintings as a way of starting dialog with the viewers. Maybe he or she can discover something new in my paintings that I haven´t thought of while painted it. I find this thought interesting and reassuring, since the painting in my opinion is not finished before it touches a person. This exchange of different feelings and experiences with other people inspires me as an artist, Anne says.
And she adds that she always tries to leave something to her viewer´s imagination.
