Farming Fire
In his first institutional solo exhibition at Viborg Kunsthal, Farming Fire, visual artist Mikkel Ørsted weaved together perception, materiality, and spirituality with philosophical and scientific questions in colorful and expressive paintings and ceramic sculptures. The works take shape according to the rhythms of fire and the systems of nature, balancing in an aesthetic space between ornamentation and abstraction.
With this exhibition, Ørsted challenged our notions of harmony and beauty in a constant attempt to overcome the impossible. This is expressed in the exhibition’s large ceramic sculptures and extensive series of paintings, where he vigorously experiments with techniques and materials. The works emerge from self-invented systems that are continuously challenged, while all the pieces carry elements of one another.
In a digitalized world, materials and material knowledge have become rare, something Ørsted seeks to counter by awakening our senses and our shared awareness of the tactile. He works with multiple techniques simultaneously, pushing materials to their limits—in height, in glazes, in patterns, and on canvases—with the hope that materials can offer us a common language in a polarized world.