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Lisa Hennig-Olsen
Lisa Hennig-Olsen
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Heritage - The Essence of Now, Lisa Hennig-Olsen 2019
Sensory experience; scent installation. Performance for camera (image) -
Heritage - The Essence of Now, Lisa Hennig-Olsen 2019
Sensory experience; scent installation. Performance for camera (image) -
Heritage - The Essence of Now, Lisa Hennig-Olsen 2019
Sensory experience; scent installation. Self-portraits (image)
Major project:
Heritage – The Essence of Now
Heritage – The Essence of Now is a sensory experience focusing on the relationship between the present moment and the past, and its relation to the sense of smell. Our sense of smell is famously known for being closely connected to memory. In addition, it brings you into the immediate present. And so, the artist wants to create presence and travel simultaneously, in order to create reflections on heritage, identity, birth and existence.
The audience is invited to step into a scented space, an installation featuring a glass and metal sculpture, combining the fragile and the strong. The unique scent was created based on the DNA of the artist. A DNA test was carried out prior to starting the project. The test results showed three strands; the places of origin, forming one identity. Investigating these locations, specific essences native to these exact places were picked out and blended together to form a perfume. The perfume was created with assistance from London-based Maya Njie Perfumes.
Forming an abstract womb, the live part of the installation – and the live-to-camera work found in the related magazine and online portfolio – is performed inside a skin-matching sheer fabric. A red thread weaves its way through the fabric as an umbilical cord, rounding the concept of birth and existence.
Info
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School
School of Arts & Humanities
Programme
MA Contemporary Art Practice
Specialism
Performance
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Contact
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Contemporary Artist
Hennig-Olsen’s practice looks at identity, the non-visual senses: touch and smell, female body alterations, the Female Gaze, media and the fine line between fragility and strength. Below, the artist explains:
What follows, is a woman’s voice: researching the paradoxes and complexities of the Female Gaze, my practice explores what such a gaze might constitute. Investigating the vulnerability and power of being a woman and the body as art in performance, I find that my body is a tool, an instrument. The personal is political and, out of neglect and disregard, feminism arose for female liberation and equality. I work with the symbiosis of fragility and strength, probing the loaded subject of touch, intimacy and our first home within the body of another. Juxtaposing the sexualised imageries found in glossy magazines and media, my practice explores an animalistic truth found in the fertile female body. I apply knowledge from my background in modern dance when working with performance as visual art, in terms of spatial scores and physical awareness. – Artist's statement, 2019
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Previous degrees
- BA Modern Theatre Dance, Amsterdam University of the Arts; Exchange, School of New Dance Development, Amsterdam University of the Arts; Diploma, Copenhagen Contemporary Dance School
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Experiences
- Performer, NPO 3, Amsterdam, 2017; Gallery assistant, Galerie Espen Artdenor, Cannes, 2016; Location manager, Dutch Dance Festival, Maastricht, 2016; Performer, Oriantheatre Dance Company, Paris/Pula, 2016; Curator: 'A Sustainable Future', Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, 2018
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Exhibitions
- RCA Fashion Show, Corck Street Galleries, London, 2019; ANSA Event, 5th Base Gallery, London, 2018; Jetlag Festival, ADM Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2018; Young Art Festival, The Woods, Beverwijk, 2018; Revolve Festival, Uppsala Train Station, Uppsala, 2018; 'Interested?', Grow Tottenham, London, 2018; Award Ceremony, Kilden Performing Arts Centre Foyer, Kristiansand, 2018; Work-in-progress Show, Woo Gateway, Royal College of Art, London, 2018; Amsterdam Art Weekend, EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam, 2017; 'Paradox' with Noumenon, Sugarfactory, Amsterdam, 2017; PUF Festival, Venetian Fortress, Pula, 2017; Summer Collection, Église St. Merry, Paris, 2016