The Will of the Material: Margrethe Aanestad on her new commission for Scandinavia House

I was approached earlier this year by Scandinavia House Curator Emily Stoddart with an invitation to make a new sculptural work specifically for this exhibition. Of course, this was a great opportunity and very exciting for me. Later I learned more about the concept and the title of the show, A Time for Everything, which is borrowed from the title of the Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard´s novel of the same name. The final work I created is a relatively large assemblage of seven components in satin, brass and marble. The overlying concept of the piece is time; the tension between the ephemeral and the enduring which is what I am concerned about in general in my artistic practice.

In August, as Stoddart was developing the curatorial framing and placement of works by nearly 30 artists in the three galleries, I was invited to come visit the dedicated place where my work would be presented. It was a narrow rectangular wall, 3.5 meters tall and 1 meter wide, in front of the window of the first gallery and with a beautiful wooden floor in a traditional Finnish pattern. With the place in mind and a photo on my phone, I spent all of September in Norway mentally developing the idea, the shapes, and the materials I would use. I knew I wanted to take advantage of the majestic scale of the wall. The work developed subconsciously and intuitively until it suddenly came together into a clear vision. I sent over a sketch to Stoddart and Curatorial Associate Eve O’Shea, which they approved, and I started to produce the work.

The brass bows were fabricated at a metal factory at Mariero in Stavanger, and I also acquired the satin in Stavanger, before returning to NY. The marble pieces are sourced in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where I live. I installed the work in the gallery a week before the opening. This was a bit nerve wracking as it was the first time I had seen all the components together. I had to make a few decisions on site and went back several times, but my gut feeling was good overall.

I have previously created several large-scale rectangular shapes in pastel on paper, and also have worked with satin in similar cascading shapes, but on a smaller scale. For this exhibition, I scaled up the work and used the wall to the maximum advantage. I like to work with and enhance the natural gravity and “will” of the material in a kind of effortless way. The indeterminate hues of the satin, and the shimmer in it, is of huge importance. I like the nuances in the textile, and how light becomes a part of it and it changes depending on the setting. I also wanted to include brass bows and marble, which are materials I often combine in my work, but again on a smaller scale than here. The brass reflects light, and the rounded shapes are also reflected downwards in the dark marble. These are immaterial but important qualities in the work.

An unexpected element of the installation is the air-conditioning in the gallery! It makes the satin move quietly and subtly, as if in a breeze, and the piece becomes animate which I really love. This corresponds perfectly with the theme of the exhibition and of my work which is time. And it also reminds me of a site-specific temporary open-air project I did at Sølyst in Stavanger in 2017, where I mounted five different textiles in trees and they interacted with the wind and light.

So yes, the work resembles my work in the past, but it is much larger than my previous indoor pieces.

Yes, I remember that conversation from earlier. First of all, I think that my sculptural practice has changed a little since then. I now look more for quite specific materials that have the same qualities in many places like brass and marble for example, and single coloured satin or silky fabrics. Earlier, I used much more “found” and relatively less specific materials. That said, I think ways of sourcing materials are different between places due to the scale of cities and how accessible or not materials are. In this case, I think Afterlight - In Wake of Time could be the same anywhere. But I got lucky getting in touch with a really great metal factory in Stavanger when I prepared for this. They were so helpful and could deliver within the deadline. I think this would be more of an operation to get fabricated in New York City. On the other hand, the amount of textile stores and variety of fabric in New York is endless compared to Stavanger. These differences influence how the work gets made.

My history with Scandinavia House begins in 2023 when I was contacted by Stoddart. She had heard about me via The Royal Norwegian Consulate General, and I was in a group show called Looking North at Yi gallery in Brooklyn at the time. She saw my work, and included several of my pieces and a new commission in an exhibition at Scandinavia House later that same year called Narrative Threads. In 2024, I was included in a pop-up show at Scandinavia House during New York Textile Month, curated by Ragna Froda.

I am very proud and humbled to be invited once more to participate in A Time for Everything at Scandinavia House in the company of these amazing artists. My sculpture is close to the beautiful sculptures by Irene Nordli, between John Savio's woodcuts, and facing Cecilia Edefalk's “Warrior” sculpture in bronze – I could not dream of a better place! Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America is the leading center for Nordic culture in the United States. As a Nordic artist, it is a very important point of connection between my work and a larger audience, and enables people to learn about art and culture from the Nordic region.