Her painting "Spring" is a graphic representation of one of the most romanticized subjects in art. Gjerdrum Helgesen's representation of springtime is pared down and simple. The painting's primary focus is the pale greens, vibrant blues and compelling use of negative space. The color palette is expressive here of rebirth and potential, all the concepts usually associated with spring in popular imagination.
Yet Gjerdrum Helgesen's use of angles and lines adds a modern edge to the work; the softness of "Spring" is countered by the presence of intricate lines that are crosshatched throughout the painting. The repeating pattern of lines is a theme in these works that keeps them modern and innovative. Gjerdrum Helgesen references urban life in all of these works through her subtle inclusion of grid patterns, and circular columns. Reducing features of city life such as train tracks, windows, sidewalks, awnings and pillars to their simplest forms grants the viewer an opportunity to see these ordinary objects as subjects of beauty and grace.
Gjerdrum Helgesen's work is immediately eye-catching; its aesthetic is modern and simplified. Yet our imaginations are captivated by the nuance of her colors, the attitudes of her figures and the subtle emotive quality of her compositions. Mia Gjerdrum Helgesen has studied art at The National School of Communication in Norway and at The Academy of Art in San Francisco. She obtained her Masters in
park) that nevertheless possesses an extraordinary power. Like Seurat's figures, Gjerdrum Helgesen's are quite formal, even rigid. Yet the technique that she employs here, two colors blended into variation of hues, creates an unexpected effect of nostalgia and elusive emotion in the midst of this stylish scene.
In "Home," a monochromatic piece, varying hues of black and white are used to create an abstract city scene. The layering of color and placement of objects in space suggests movement in the painting, which is both physical and transcendental. There seem to be memories evoked by this "Home" scene, as images float upwards through the canvas in varying degrees of intensity. Depicting the Nesoya Bridge, the crossing from the main land to the island where the artist has lived most of her life, becomes the symbol of crossing and leaving things behind. The painting calls upon the viewer to explore his or her own feelings regarding space, location and memory. Using sepia tones, Gjerdrum Helgesen does her utmost to evoke the passage of time, of elegance, even the passage of romance that people associate with home.
The bridge in the center of the painting is the unifying feature of the work. The background, with its painterly brushstrokes, conveys movement and dynamism, while the bridge is precisely detailed and focuses the viewer on the tangible. There are fragments of other man-made items here, the identity of which is unknown to the viewer. Lines appear and then vanish into the canvas. Shapes resembling squares, ladders, and pillars appear randomly throughout the painting. This serves to defamiliarize viewers from the function of such objects and reacquaint them with their aesthetic value.
Visual Arts from The National College of the Arts, Oslo.
Mia Gjerdrum Helgesen also works in graphic design and illustration, illustrating children's books, as well as working in advertising, a skill that informs her work and adds to its modern appeal. She currently lives at Nesoya and works at her own studio in Asker, Norway, where she exhibits her art extensively.