Signe Marie Andersen
Ambient Silence
May 23 – June 22, 2024
Opening reception Thursday May 23, 6-8 pm

Most times when you experience silence, you also hear some ambient noises. Like the hum of a refrigerator or the whistle of a breeze. Ambient usually describes a quiet or peaceful quality, but in this case it can also include slightly disturbing or unnerving sounds, like the drone of an airplane, the rumble of a streetcar or an ambulance siren in the distance.

I like the silence in a photograph, the spaces in between, the small movements in the substrata which hints at different moods. These new works are positioned somewhere amidst the staged and the documentary. I search for the one in the other, and if I find it, the image expands and brings me closer to an imagined reality.

Signe Marie Andersen, May 2024

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Signe Marie Andersen (b. 1968) holds an MA from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, and lives and works in Oslo. Andersen has expanded her photographic practice with a distinct approach, from working with more or less clearly staged motifs, the narrative streak is now entwined with a play between different moods. Several of the photographs are from her travels and take place in transit areas such as airports and hotels. A recurring feature in many of Andersen’s works is a melancholic tone and a bright light that reminds the viewer of existential loneliness and the unstoppable speed of life. But the images are never completely discouragingly dark, they are often filled with subtle, low key humor – emphasized by her poetic and sometimes surreal titles – thus acting more as an enhanced recognizion of life, with its pauses, lost time, longing for meaning and interpersonal meetings. Her long-standing relationship with theatre is a continious influence on her work.