My practice is multidisciplinary and spans from 35mm experimental film photos, to: cyanotypes, anthotypes, block prints, embroidery, illustrations, printmaking, installation and mixed media work.
My photos are “film souped” and I shoot almost exclusively on disposable cameras. Film soups often include a variety of alcohol, juice, spices, seawater detergents and chemicals. After the film soup the roll is typically frozen from a few hours to a few days, and thawed to reflect conceptually on the changes of state of water molecules. The photos are not edited once they are developed, all resulting color changes, shapes and emulsion disruptions are a natural part of the film soup technique.
My art practice centers on the concept of the “free soul state” historically this term has been used by the Sámi people to describe the trance-like state the noaidi (medicine [wo]man) enters. During the free soul state the noaidi can commune with gods, spirits and ancestors and they can travel to the six traditional dimensions. During the free soul state the noaidi leaves their physical body and can appear in other forms. Growing up my Áddjá (Grandfather) taught me about Sámi culture and history, and about the old ways before christianization, and about the destruction of sacred Sámi artifacts like the noaidi drum that happened with colonization.
To me, the modern interpretation of the free soul state is a time when the unconscious mind is in control and can be described as an altered state of consciousness. My Áddjá, Dr Sherman Nelson, was a pioneering psychologist who was trained in hypnosis and meditation and taught mindfulness decades before it became a buzzword. My Áddjá was my spiritual teacher and he was an active Zen Buddhist from the time he was 20, he was the first person who taught me to meditate. As my practice deepened I spoke to my Áddjá about the hallucinatory experiences I had when I was in a deep meditative state and he would share with me his own experiences. Both my Grandmother and my Mother are also psychologists, so I was raised with the concepts of psychoanalysis and the collective unconscious. My Áddjá was particularly interested in the study of dreams and the meaning behind them, he would always ask me about my dreams. I impressed him from a young age with my ability to lucid dream naturally and we shared a fascination with the unconscious mind.
In March 2020 I became extremely ill with Covid and developed double pneumonia. The hallucinatory state I lived in for a month was an altered state of consciousness, as I thought the Grim Reaper hid in the shadows of the corner of my bedroom. I even became so paranoid I was convinced if I was brought to the hospital the Doctors would kill me. I felt myself lingering between life and death as I felt the stiff hand of pneumonia creeping deeper and deeper into my lungs. Thanks to an “experimental” course of steroids I was able to start healing the pneumonia but I’ve been a covid long-hauler ever since. I spent much of Spring and Summer 2020 on bedrest and since then I’ve largely been isolating at home to protect my suppressed immune system. I’ve never been so stationary in my life and the free soul state took on a new meaning in my life with severe chronic illness.
Stuck in my bed day after day I fantastize about being able to transform and travel like a noaidi. If only I could leave my corporeal shell for just an hour, I would take on the form of a doe and run through the forest again.
I am inspired by the following artists, designers and duodjars: Áillohaš (Nils-Aslak Valkeapeåå, Yves Tanguy, Máret Ánne Sara, Graciela Iturbide, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Kohei Nawa, Anna-Stina Svakko, Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer. I am also inspired by the work of John Savio, Lucas Samaras (especially his manipulated polaroids), the architect Joar Nango, and the work of my former employer, friend and mentor, Brad Kahlhamer