White Matrix, Black Matrix

The two objects consist of patterns cut in sheets of synthetic material, and spray lacquered white and black. The patterns are derived from motifs from Bjarne Werner’s earlier paintings, and generated on a computer and cut using a computerised milling machine.

In the world of mathematics, 'matrix' means a table, but in more general parlance refers to a basic shape, as is the case here.

The two objects evoke paper cuts, in which the shapes are formed by the sections that have been cut away. This is most evident in Black Matrix.

But that is not all:

The way in which the reliefs are hung in front of the wall and lit by spotlights produces new shapes, consisting of the shadows of what is left behind. This is most evident in White Matrix.

Absence plays a major role in Black Matrix and White Matrix. The shapes appear through the cut-away surfaces. We encounter a graphic grid in the form of floating objects that evoke paper cuttings devoid of context. It is this very absence that activates the surroundings. Maybe we spot the contrast between the shiny blackness and a rough wall. We see the play of light, in which shadows and streaks create new patterns with each other.

It is a similar game, which the legendary Old Norse character, Kraka uses in the account of Ragnar Lothbrok. The beautiful Kraka had an impossible task. She had to stand in front of Ragnar, neither clothed nor naked. But Kraka was cunning and wrapped herself in fishing net, so she was covered, and yet uncovered. It is the ambiguity of the net encounter in the rough and uneven surfaces of the matrices. Like loosely stitched strings they hang in front of us like a wall, which is both there and not there. They challenge our way of looking at things.

Graphic objects, painted and digitally cut 10-mm synthetic panels, 200 x 150 cm. 2017