GODESSES

Ida Thorhauge

June 16^th 2024 - Dec. 15^th 2024

The exhibition GODDESSES with Ida Thorhauge focuses on motherhood and care in time. Ida Thorhauge draws inspiration from religious iconography and the Madonna and Child – an icon that has been reproduced and interpreted by many artists over time and has dominated much of Western art history and culture as an archetype. Thorhauge consciously works with this tradition and interprets it to fit her own time and self-image.

There are many unspoken ideals and myths associated with motherhood and caring today, and in art history, the vast majority of images of mother and child are painted by men. Thorhauge wants to understand this classic motif and works her way into an iconic universe of mythical character. In her large and expressive paintings, the subject matter is expanded with monstrous nursing paintings and depictions of interspecies caring, offering a new perspective on the diversity and universality of motherhood. The works show how care can transcend between nature, the human and the spiritual.

The mother figure today

The worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages and Renaissance makes her an icon throughout the world. Ida Thorhauge's works hark back to numerous depictions of Mary with child over the centuries and can be seen as a general exploration of women's artistic heritage. In the exhibition, motherhood is seen as compassionate, longing, powerful and liberating. We see the nursing mother with her baby in her arms, the pregnant mother on horseback and the vulnerable mother lying in foetal position against the horse's body. The exhibition also features several modern portraits of women with baby carriers, tattoos and hair under their arms, who could be any woman with her newborn baby today.

Presence and intimacy

Ida Thorhauge is inspired by the two-dimensional portraits of the Middle Ages, where each symbol has a meaning and points to a deeper narrative. Thorhauge is primarily inspired by Christian iconography and recognisable symbols such as roses, the hourglass, the naked tree, leaves, the naked body, death, the white flowers, the moon, etc. The religious can also be traced in the intimate presence between the figures, such as when two hands meet, a laying on of hands or an infant sleeping on the back of a horse. Through the archetypal characters and the world they inhabit, an existential presence of eternity and time is created.

Man and nature

Many contemporary artists today are concerned with two themes in particular: a more holistic worldview and man's relationship with nature. Ida Thorhauge connects these themes with the religious and a language of care that includes all life forms around us; animals, plants, ecosystems and natural phenomena. Her depiction of animals and humans points to the connection between the two – they speak of moving into an unknown future where horses and women, animals and humans live in harmony. In this way, Ida Thorhauge moves humans out of the centre of the story and places them in a more equal context in the middle of everything.