All the Whisperings of the World, analog photograpy, images from scanning electron microscope, scanning transmission electron microscope and flatbed scans.
Installation views from Kunstgarasjen, Bergen, 2022.
In All the Whisperings of the World, I examine the visual connections between nature’s complexity and the body’s vulnerability, based on a life-threatening allergy to Brazil nuts. The work shows images from rain forest areas in South America where the Brazil nut grows, microscope images of the Brazil nut’s interior and body cells that have been destroyed due to allergic reactions, and appropriate images from scientific research material on the body, flora and fauna.
Through two journeys to the Amazon, a collaboration with the University of Oslo and photos from a research project on allergies at Uppsala University, I have worked with the connections between the body’s and the forest’s ecology, and how all living things are part of complex ecological systems, including the human body.
The work deals with spatial investigations of cells and rain forests, and the body as a link between inner and outer reality. A fragile connection emerges between the macro and micro perspectives in the images, a reminder that both the human body and nature are part of a complex and diverse ecosystem where all parts are interdependent. With the ambiguity that arises in the compilation of images from different sources, and with different perspectives, I want to create a space of thought that targets the grief associated with the loss of diversity in nature, but also the loss of our own habitat.
The Brazil nut tree is a striking example of so-called mutualism, when two or more species in an ecosystem form a mutual cooperation for survival. Both a special type of bee, a rare orchid and a specialized rodent are needed to pollinate the tree and spread the seeds. Without this interaction, the Brazil nut tree will not be able to reproduce, and therefore it will bear fruit preferably in healthy forests.
Both the Brazil nut tree and allergies are explicit examples of nature’s invisible connections. The Brazil nut contains a powerful allergen, a protein that contains sulfur-containing amino acids. Having an allergy as powerful as mine means that just a small bite of a nut can be fatal.
Recent research shows that interactions between humans and the microbiota on our skin and in our gut, are fundamental to the development of the immune system. The claim is that drastic changes in modern environments and lifestyles have led to an imbalance of this evolutionary ancient process, which coincides with a sharp increase in immune diseases such as autoimmune, allergic and chronic inflammatory conditions. The human body is also about to lose its original habitat.
In the pictures, I focus on abstractions, visual connections and associations, where the different size ratios are equated. So that the image of the inside of a cell is presented in the same size as a landscape seen from the plane. I want the measurable and the scientific to be placed side by side with the bodily feeling of belonging to a larger context - an ecosystem.
The work has been exhibited in Kunstgarasjen in 2022 and Malmö Konsthall in 2017. The exhibition in Malmö Konsthall was also part of a biennial aimed at children and young people, where the work was the starting point for a workshop and an educational program.
Thanks to Dr. Mats Block for permission to use the micro photographies of mast cells in degranulation.