Mona Orstad Hansen
En fjerdedel
[One Quarter]
The Window Room
20.02.—30.03.2025

In the Window Hall, Mona Orstad Hansen presents a series of sculptural paintings. Her project revolves around an examination of abs­tract painting. In recent years, she has focused on a more simp­lified expres­sion, working with one or two colours applied in sparse strokes, often in a single motion across the white canvas. Defined fields of colour are subtly blended, while in some areas, the paint is left to run freely. This process forms the basis for her experi­mental approach, where painting extends into sculptural objects, introducing three-dimensionality.

As a result of this process, a transitional space emerges where the painting is no longer ‘just’ a painting, but shifts towards sculpture and archi­tecture. Orstad Hansen draws from her expe­rience with painting and applies this knowledge in her work with wood. Her work is grounded in an interest in painting as an object, introducing a spatial aspect.

The paintings in the exhibition begin with the same format, but are then divided both in width and height to create new formats. These works are conceived as building blocks that can be joined together. In Ting som blir revet ned eller bygget opp I and II (Things That Are Torn Down or Built Up), a quarter of the canvas is removed and replaced with a plywood frame. These sculptural frames repeat some of the geo­metric forms present in the paintings, extending the com­positions. Rather than fully planning the sculp­tural elements in advance, Orstad Hansen allows them to develop orga­nically during construction, responding to and in­corp­orating shifts and "mistakes" that occur through­out the process.

The paintings feature a light back­ground colour paired with a darker primary color and oscillate between the mini­malistic and the complex. Orstad Hansen is interested in how much or how little information is required for a com­position to appear complete. The works in this exhibition are also part of an ongoing research project where she explores pigments and binding mediums. These pigments have dif­ferent pro­perties and are more organic and unstable than industrially produced colours. With a matte finish that appears fragile, the colours resemble water­colours when applied in thin layers. She is drawn to the tactile mate­ri­ality that these pigments offer.

Mona Orstad Hansen (b. 1976) lives and works in Stavanger. She was educated at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (5th year student), and holds a Bachelor’s degree with First Class Honours from Gray’s School of Art at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her most recent solo exhibitions include Trondhjems Kunst­forening (2021), Sandnes Kunst­forening (2019), and Galleri LNM in Oslo (2018). Notable group exhibitions include Håndplukket 2 at KB Contem­porary, Oslo (2025), Plattform - Farge at Arkivet Tou Trykk, Stavanger (2023), and The Unseen, featuring works from the Christen Sveaas’ Art Foundation at White­chapel Gallery, London (2022). She has also participated in the Autumn Exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, multiple times (most recently in 2020). Orstad Hansen has completed several public art projects, including the wall relief Forestillinger (2023) for Kongsberg VGS for the Buskerud County art collection. Her works have been acquired by KORO for the new Stavanger University Hospital, and collections such as Stavanger Art Museum, the Christen Sveaas’ Art Foundation, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and Norges Bank, among others.