Norwegian painter Jorunn Hancke Øgstad is an artist exploring the language of abstraction through sculpture and painting. Using fabric dye, resin and plastics on unprimed canvas, the artist mimics watercolor, spray paint and print processes, often within the same work, co-opting techniques commonly found in expressionist, street and pop art practices.
Traversing historical periods in art and design, Øgstad finds inspiration everywhere from 19th century spiritual abstraction to the work of female contemporaries. Many of her works feature bleaching and blocking processes which see areas of the works become translucent, thereby letting light through the surface of the work.
Born in 1979 in Bærum, Norway, Øgstad lives and works in Oslo. Notable exhibitions include Oppgjørets Time, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikkoden; Nye Malerier, Formuesforvaltning, Oslo; a 2019 presentation at Frieze London and Crocodile Tears at the Kunsthall Oslo, part of Munch on the Move, a series of exhibitions initiated by Norway’s Munch Museum. Group exhibitions include …And Justice for All at VI, VII, Oslo, and Acid Jazz, QB gallery, Oslo. In 2019 her work was exhibited at Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC).
The artist’s works are in numerous private collections in Europe and America, as well as the Equinor Art Collection and the collections of Örebro Konsthall, Henie Onstad Art Center and Norway’s National Museum.