SOLID VOIDS
ART
With her Solid Voids series of objects Birgitte Due Madsen created sculptural forms that are related and respond to each other: concave and convex, spheres and squared, they play with the idea of presence and absence, positive and negative, solidity and voids. It’s rare to see plaster or gypsum used as an exhibition material but in the Danish ceramic artist’s deft hands it is a fluid expressive medium, moulded, shaped and cast, then polished to a velvety surface that begs to be touched.
“I’m really pleased to master a material that invites people to touch it. Contact with gypsum as an exhibition material is rare because it is considered worthy only as a sketching medium before a work is made in marble or other solid materials. But used as the final expression it surprises and attracts with its soft surface and deep reflections of light and shadow. It’s an almost sensual play with the laws of attraction. If you touch the object you get a more sensitive and sophisticated understanding of the craftsmanship behind it as well as the sheer beauty of the surface.”
“If one goes into the basic principles of geometry the possibilities of form are endless. I always work on a piece for a very long time, refining and refining. I trust my instincts and values. Everything has a history and is inscribed with historical contexts and classic disciplines. Making geometry expressive through sculptural form derives from looking at modernists such as Eero Saarinen and Jørn Utzon. By extracting the circular geometry in continued studies of curves I created a relational family of forms connected by a level of abstraction, as a three-dimensional geometry in the intersection between art and design.”
Solid Voids by Birgitte Due Madsen are featured in Case Study: Geometry and the Circles Portfolio in Ark Journal VOL II.
WORDS ARK JOURNAL
PHOTOGRAPHY Henriette Schou and the artist
CASE STUDY
— PERIOD PIECES
In the unique surroundings of the house created by Danish sculptor Rikard Axel Poulsen (1887-1972) furniture, lighting and homewares by contemporary designers exhibit their serene poise, the avant-garde flanked by the archaic to create layers of history.
CULTIVATING PATINA
How to create a newly built house that feels comfortably familiar and as burnished as the well-loved objects that move with the owners? Designer Elisabeth Snejbjerg and former architect now photographer Mikael Bonde after 25 years in Copenhagen moved to the country near Aarhus to a house they designed and built among trees.
BACKYARD REFUGE
Small but perfectly matched, two residences in a courtyard are reduced to the essentials using quality materials and maximum light to create welcoming tranquillity.
SOLID VOIDS
art
With her Solid Voids series of objects Birgitte Due Madsen created sculptural forms that are related and respond to each other: concave and convex, spheres and squared, they play with the idea of presence and absence, positive and negative, solidity and voids. It’s rare to see plaster or gypsum used as an exhibition material but in the Danish ceramic artist’s deft hands it is a fluid expressive medium, moulded, shaped and cast, then polished to a velvety surface that begs to be touched.
“I’m really pleased to master a material that invites people to touch it. Contact with gypsum as an exhibition material is rare because it is considered worthy only as a sketching medium before a work is made in marble or other solid materials. But used as the final expression it surprises and attracts with its soft surface and deep reflections of light and shadow. It’s an almost sensual play with the laws of attraction. If you touch the object you get a more sensitive and sophisticated understanding of the craftsmanship behind it as well as the sheer beauty of the surface.”
“If one goes into the basic principles of geometry the possibilities of form are endless. I always work on a piece for a very long time, refining and refining. I trust my instincts and values. Everything has a history and is inscribed with historical contexts and classic disciplines. Making geometry expressive through sculptural form derives from looking at modernists such as Eero Saarinen and Jørn Utzon. By extracting the circular geometry in continued studies of curves I created a relational family of forms connected by a level of abstraction, as a three-dimensional geometry in the intersection between art and design.”
Solid Voids by Birgitte Due Madsen are featured in Case Study: Geometry and the Circles Portfolio in Ark Journal VOL II.
WORDS ARK JOURNAL
PHOTOGRAPHY Henriette Schou and the artist