Espen Eiborg talks artistic possession, New York, and loneliness in creation

By Celina Tran

Norwegian contemporary artist Espen Eiborg is known for his colourful contrasts and lightwork. Fascinated by the human condition and human desire for money, power, and success, Eiborg has created hundreds of powerful pieces over the decades, catching the eyes of a star-studded clientele such as Opera Winfrey, Robert Redford and Sean Penn.

An entire world away from the bustling art scenes of New York, Milan and Paris, Espen Eiborg was born in Norway, where he grew up along the calm and idyllic streets of Bekkelaget in Oslo. While most young creatives have dreams and goals for where their art might take them, there was no way for a young Eiborg to even imagine the long and meandering journey that his life would become.

“I’m not from a family of artists, so I don’t think I even knew that becoming an artist was an option. Still, there was always something there – a creativity that was so embedded in me that it might as well be a part of my genetic structure. It followed me around, seeping into every part of my life,” says Eiborg.

Espen Eiborg talks artistic possession,New York, and loneliness in creation

Bummer in the summer. Photo: GicléeLAB

At the ripe age of 19, Eiborg’s education took him across the Atlantic, where he went on to study architecture at the New York School of Interior Design. Architecture, he figured, was a way to combine his passion for the arts and the standard nine-to-five. Upon graduation, he received several job offers from architectural firms in the Big Apple, and quickly fell into the architect role.

“That overriding creative voice in me clashed with the American corporate world,” he says with a small smile. “I was quite bad at sticking to the company’s social norms. In the US, the role and opinion of the boss is absolute, but I had a tendency to, well, quite loudly offer counterarguments and ideas. It didn’t quite work out and I was actually fired on Christmas Day.”

Martini Gemini. Photo: GicléeLAB

From architecture to Redford and Oprah

Young and jobless on Christmas in New York City, Eiborg was forced in the right direction, even if he didn’t know it at the time. He began to focus even more of his time on painting, and at one point, a previous colleague reached out to ask for a few pieces for a big client. Only upon arriving at the penthouse apartment, did Eiborg realise that said client was none other than Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Robert Redford.

I know what you want. Photo: GicléeLAB

“So I sold my first ever painting to Robert Redford, who happened to be good friends with Oprah Winfrey, who also ended up buying a piece. She briefly mentioned me on her show, and from there, the fax machine would not stop pinging,” Eiborg remembers. “It changed the trajectory of my career, and I was hit with the realization that I could actually make a living doing what I love the most.”

With exhibitions everywhere from New York, Milan and Paris, to Dublin, Copenhagen, and of course, Oslo, Eiborg has never looked back. After spending the greater part of the 90s in NYC, and another decade abroad, he eventually returned home to Oslo, where he continues to create.

Espen Eiborg. Photo: CUBE8 gallery, Fredrikstad

Art as a medium of loneliness

The noise of everyday family life in Oslo only distantly echoes his previous adventures, but Eiborg’s workload hasn’t changed. In fact, he might be busier than ever. With exhibitions scattered across Europe and some in the US, commissions and a long list of clients, the artist spends as much time as he can in his studio, cracking away at several pieces at once.

And while having your art displayed in the homes of Oprah and the like certainly does not hurt an artist’s popularity, the demand for Eiborg’s pieces arises from his unique style. Perhaps best described as raw and emotionally loaded, with a touch of 60s pop art and perhaps even classic metropolitan street art, Eiborg’s art can almost feel a bit nostalgic.

Espen Eiborg. Photo:GicléeLAB

“When I was young, I used to sit up close to the TV and just watch the static. I was amazed by these individual specks and how they made a whole picture when seen from afar. My art is similar in the way that each element is quite abstract up close and on its own, but it tells a story when seen from afar,” he says.

Eiborg makes each of his pieces alone in his closed-off studio, where he spends long days on his own. “Being an artist is a lonely job. You’re in the studio, left with no one but yourself to talk to, and often, you’ll be forced to reckon with the thoughts and emotions deep inside.” For worse or for better, he explains how all of these emotions begin to eat away at him, leaving him with no choice but to give them life.

“When creating art, there is obviously a driving emotion or idea, but they live their own stories and on other people’s walls,” Eiborg adds. “While I’m fascinated by things such as humanity’s never-ending desire for not only money, power and success, but also happiness, I think the true meaning of each piece is in the eye of the beholder, as Picasso would say.”