Galleri Siri: Can art help us heal?

Defining art can be difficult. It is a way of expressing ourselves. Viewing other’s art can reflect the world back at us or make us realise something about ourselves. It can be inspiring, and it can be thought-provoking. It may even help us feel better.

Siri Bjotveit, owner of Galleri Siri, is an artist with a difference. She gets her inspiration from mediation. “The motifs in the paintings are based on the messages I receive during meditations,” Bjotveit explains. “The messages I receive are concrete text. I have to go a few rounds with myself to get the text turned into a painting on the canvas. This is both educational, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding.”

This is why the creation of each painting is a lengthy process, resulting in one to two paintings a year. Each message, or theme, is only painted once, so every piece of art is unique. However, finding a gallery that matched Bjotveit’s philosophy, was difficult, so she decided to convert her garage into her own gallery.

Vanity.

Her work, Vanity, can be read as an example of how we portray ourselves on social media. “Human experience is created through both good and less good life experiences,” Bjotveit says, sharing the message she got for the painting. “We hide the negatives in our inner selves as best we can so that our outer selves shine. Vanity is shown through a glossy image of ourselves.”

Pretending everything is perfect all the time is not sustainable. The antidote can be found in nature. “We need to get back to nature,” she says. “We need to find our creativity and curiosity again. I think we will become much more whole than we are now.”

Heartedly Present.

Heartedly Present depicts the small, yet hardy, coltsfoot. The flower may look modest but is the first wildflower to push through snow, slush, dirt and gravel. Its yellow head is a cheerful reminder that the cold and dark winter is coming to an end. The days are getting warmer and brighter.

Life’s Experiences.

The artist finds both inspiration and energy in nature. Her painting Life’s Experiences shows generations of humans, like trees. With their roots deeply and firmly in the ground, trees can survive stormy weather. “We cannot be removed from nature,” says Bjotveit. “We are part of it.”

The Old Are Always The Oldest.

Web: www.galleri-siri.com