(In Between)
Tania Marmolejo Andersson
Utstillingen var 6. oktober 2018 — 28. oktober 2018
Where do we belong? What factors create our heritage?
Tania Marmolejo Andersson er en svensk/dominikansk kunstner, som bor og jobber i New York.
Da hun gikk på videregående skole var hun i Harstad som utvekslingselev, og det var her hun startet sin kunstneriske karriere.
Hennes unike stil er sterkt inspirert av hennes bakgrunn som svensk-dominikansk, og fra hennes 4 år i Norge. Her lot hun seg inspirere av kunstnere som Edvard Munch og Odd Nerdrum, samt nordnorsk folklore og natur.
Ønsket om å komme tilbake til byen og landsdelen med en egen utstilling har vært stort:
«The desire is to «return» to the country that began educating me as an artist, with the purpose of showing my work in an effort to showcase the Scandinavian influence, mixed with the influences form the other countries I have lived in, and my exposure to the different cultures.
Norway played a HUGE part in my development as an artist, as it was the first to teach me, and set my path. It would be a dream to go back and exhibit.»
I denne utstillingen presenterer hun nye verk som er inspirert av tiden hennes her, og den stadige søken etter tilhørighet man som moderne menneske med (og uten) flerkulturell bakgrunn ofte kan kjenne seg igjen i.
Foto: Steve Nilsen
Tania Marmolejo Andersson
Dominican-Swedish artist. (1975). Lives and works in New York City.
Born in Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic, Tania began her studies as a graphic designer and illustrator in Harstad, Norway in 1993, continuing her education in Fine Arts in Kristiansand, Norway, Fine Arts in The Dominican Republic, and graduating from Fine Arts and Illustration in the year 2000 in Parsons, New York.
Her mixed Scandinavian-Caribbean heritage plays a large role in her work, often depicting female characters that are torn between two opposing forces such as hesitation/ seduction, fear/ determination, as well as cultural and physical divides, as a means of expressing the dual and opposing cultural influences present in her development as a woman and artist. She counts her 4 years in Norway as some of her most influential as an artist, having been inspired by artists such as Edvard Munch and Odd Nerdrum among others, and the folklore, nature and landscape of North Norway. This influence, mixed with her Dominican roots create a unique mix of themes, color and mood in her paintings and works.
The cartoonish qualities in her work are remnants of her experience designing characters for animation, for companies such as PBS, Nickelodeon, MTV and Hyperion/Disney, and her children’s book illustrations that include a series on the national parks in the Dominican Republic.
She has participated in over 30 exhibitions, and 5 international solo exhibits, as well as international art fairs such as Context Miami during Art Basel, Scope and PINTA.
Tania is the author of the books: «To Doodle Or Not To Doodle», and «I Doodle, Therefore I Am».
She is a champion for women’s rights, often exhibiting with organizations that support women.
Artist Statement, «(IN BETWEEN)» 2018
Where do we belong? What factors create our heritage?
As a Dominican- Swedish artist, I have been lucky enough to have been exposed to two very different cultures growing up, with their varying and opposing landscapes, colors and moods. Growing up in the Dominican Republic with a Swedish mother, the differences in the female experience was very clear when I traveled to Sweden. The contrast between the cultures became a very important theme in my paintings later when I studied art.
I began my studies in art in Harstad, Norway, when I arrived as an exchange student. The culture, folklore, colors, landscapes and people also added themselves to my long list of inspiration. I became obsessed with the light, as many artists such as Monet did long before me. It is a special light that bathes everything in a mood I had not experienced before: beauty and a kind of sadness. it became inspiration for the paintings I created after that, when I moved to New York.
Returning to Norway to exhibit has brought back the influences and inspiration from my time there, and I created these new paintings (both influenced by Scandinavia and the Dominican Republic) trying to capture the color and mood of memories and emotions, seen with the nostalgic eye of the expat. Also included is a series of turbaned girls, with a mix of patterns both tropical and Scandinavian, representing the mix of heritage, and constant search for the place- on an emotional and physical level- that we belong to.