Mette Tommerup
Above: Explorations (Sheep), 2009
Mette Tommerup is currently an Assistant Painting Professor at Florida International University, where she also established and manages Artist Forum, FIU's alternative student exhibition venue. Tommerup received her MFA from School of Visual Art in NYC and her BFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Originally from Denmark, she has exhibited widely in Europe, including exhibitions in Copenhagen, London and recently in Berlin. She lived and worked in New York City for 10 years, exhibiting frequently in venues such as The Chelsea Art Museum and Exit Art, before relocating to Miami. Recent exhibitions in Miami include shows at Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Locust Projects, Trampoline at The Wolfsonian-FIU and "Globe > Miami < Island" at the Bass Museum of Art. She has also shown at alternative venues such as The Moore Space and CasaLin. Tommerup's work has been reviewed in Art in America, The New York Times, The Miami Herald and she was included in Miami Contemporary Artists 2007 by Julie Davidow and Paul Clemence and Miami Arts Explosion 2006 by Alfredo Triff. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of Miami Art Museum, and numerous public and private collections.
Burning Sofa, 2010
Statement
I am a native of Denmark and my work investigates themes of memory, history and nostalgia associated with my Danish relatives and upbringing. Recently, I discovered a new branch on my family tree which has been eye-opening in relation to my work and its concepts. The discovery of my family's past led me to a reevaluation of my present. This has been crucial for my focus on manipulation and distortion of vintage imagery and my attempt to restructure new narratives in my work.
I have long been fascinated with World War II and the resistance movement in Denmark without knowing exactly why. Much of my work from 2007 and 2008 revolves around the themes of post WWII nationalism. Learning about my new relatives and discovering my great uncle's importance in the Danish resistance movement was profound to me and gave me a closer insight to the affliction of war. Although I intended them to be set in the post WWII era, it is important that my work speak to all wars and hardships. In "New Relatives," I depict the faceless experience of refugees. The figures, destitute and worn, are camouflaged into the piles of tattered blankets. The blankets embody the ravaged landscape of a country at war.
An additional goal in my work is to challenge the idea of morality as described in 19th century fairytales. Within these fairytales, if one looks closely enough, one may find underlying subtleties which produce a haunting sense of childhood and goodness. In approaching these stories, I could not dismiss the twofaced metaphors and situations which are meant to be didactic examples of everyday life when they are actually based on very somber and tragic circumstances.
My practice is defined by these conflicting elements in folklore and fairy tales. I use images that impacted me as a child and recall them to expose their true nature. The tale morphs into a nightmare of inconsistencies. I am looking for these moments in my work.
I have been alternating between painting and digital prints because I find that paint produces a more personal inlet to my own fear, while the digital creates a sense of reality and irrationality that can only be achieved through photographic realism. In "Trapped Fable- Boy and Girl," the original image is fiercely trying to break through a world which is collapsing in distortion. The figures bleed into the landscape which, in turn, abstracts into color patterns and masses. The children are trapped in a whirlwind of reality.
In my paintings, I am interested in configuring a segment of memory. This memory, my memory, is a product of national icons, photographs, personal experiences and second hand stories. I am piecing together a patchwork of visual history that represents my experience, while attempting to allow a collective visual language. I want to place emphasis on the way images and realties are fed to us through the media, to the world. I want people to see themselves and their own histories in my work, to allow a continuous narrative to flow through culture, history and contemporary life.