Reflecting on your artistic journey, what key influences – whether artists, experiences, or ideas – have shaped your unique vision and ultimately led you to pursue the artistic path you're on today?

I resisted art for a long time; I didn't see it as a way of life. But art pushed at me from all directions, and in the end, I realised that it had to be my path in life. Something I haven't regretted. I have been given the gift of having a triple minority background, as queer, Kven and Sami. Something that has given me the opportunity to see/interpret the society we live in many different ways. Something that has given me a driving force and an endless source of inspiration and renewal.

In your statement, you mentioned that your practice explores the liminal space between reality and myth. Could you elaborate on this line of thought?

I grew up in the village of Manndalen in the 60s and 70s, an area where the Meeting of three tribes, Kvens, Sámi and Norwegians. It was a village that had been through a brutal Norwegianization, and the traces of the Sámi culture were, so to speak, wiped out. And the Laestadianism revival movement had had a great influence on the population, with many prohibitions and orders on how life should be lived. It was a different and exciting place to grow up in, and I got to experience the conflict between the remains of an old natural religion and Laestadianism. Nature religion was mixed with Laestadianism, for there were some who would not participate in wiping out the last vestige of the old doctrine of nature and its healing power. It was fascinating to experience helpers/shamans using nature for healing, where the helper/shaman could take a spoonful of water from a stream and perform rituals that gave the opportunity for healing; this splash of water the person in need of help drank. And seeing this as a child gave me the opportunity to learn about reality in several ways. I myself had the opportunity to learn from the old animist religion from my grandfather, he taught me, among other things, how to stop blood, a lesson that was both fascinating and terrifying, and showed me the way to something other than an A4 life. It was a village where identities and religions were juggled, where the Sámi mindset and way of life were kept hidden. They were forced into a colonial system, and some failed to wipe out the last vestiges of an inherent culture, a culture that is today recognized as part of our world heritage. And growing up in this span between the past, the future and conflicts has given me the opportunity to interpret/understand reality, nature, religions and the surroundings in several ways, and has been an important source of inspiration for this project.

What can you tell us about your photographic project, What nature knows - Dan maid luondu diehtá? Could you walk us through the creative process of these pieces, from conceptual frameworks to the final visual language?

The work on the photo project «What nature knows - Dan maid luondu diehtá» started in the Sea Sámi village of Manndalen. In the project work, I wanted to be inspired by my belonging to Arctic Northern Norway - to the light, the darkness, the seasons. I wandered around the countryside for a long period, for 4 years in a row, from late summer until the snow came in October, to find suitable places for the various photographs. In the project, I worked at the intersection between photography, environmental art, surrealism and sculpture. I illuminated nature with LED lights, and built light installations out in the landscape, but also submerged the installations under water. Several techniques and aids were used, including smoke cartridges and a long shutter speed. I wanted to tell something about our fragile present, and transform ordinary landscapes into a peaceful and enigmatic place to be. I wanted to try to capture a fleeting moment in our time.

One of your projects, the movie Life is a Two-Way Dream - Eallin lea guovttesuorat niehku, explores the rapid transformation the world is undergoing, marked by polarization and multifaceted globalization. Could you share insights into the narrative, visual, and conceptual foundations of this work? 

The film «Life is a two-way dream - Eallin lea guovttesuorat niehku» takes you on a journey through our world, a world of polarization, alienation and power structures. And tells something about how neither life nor the world is fair to any of us. In the film, you do not meet any people; this is done intentionally to highlight the alienation, polarization in the world, but also the dystopian sides of ourselves and the world. The story of the film is closely linked to my own life of having a triple minority background as queer, Sami and Kven. Three minorities that have undergone brutal oppression and rejection. But at the same time, I draw in the beautiful and mythological from my own cultural heritage and the material world.

How does working in film differ from your other works and mediums? How do you see people responding to a longer format, especially in works that talk about environmental and societal issues?

Working with the medium of film is exciting; the medium has a great impact as a creative tool for telling stories and getting your message across. With living/moving images, you, as an artist, can more easily enter the "Personal space" we all carry. By creating a feature film, you get easier access to showing your films in cinemas and other viewing platforms, because it is a format people are most used to on TV, etc. Film is a fantastic medium for telling about the challenges we face as a global community, and carries with it a great power to influence in a positive direction. (I am a short filmmaker, but maybe one day I want to try my hand at a feature film)

Your films have had the opportunity to contribute their message at the international environmental conference COP27-2022 in Egypt and COP28-2023 in Dubai. How was the process of being in these conferences, and how do you feel your work resonated with the audience there?

The first step to being able to show my art films at environmental conferences was that the films themselves had a clear message about the great challenges we face as a global community, and for the generations that come after us. And on the way there, I found ikonotv.art. I didn't go to any of the international environmental conferences myself, but I got good feedback from ikontv.art and how they presented the artworks of the artists who were there. (About ikontv: ikonoTV streams videos of great art masterworks from worldwide museums, contemporary video artists, and production houses with interviews, documentaries, or entertainment films, all with art as the main topic.)

Your commitment to ecology and the environment are central aspects of your artistic practice. What advice can you offer to artists who aim to cultivate a more environmentally conscious practice?

Unfortunately, there is a sea of ​​inspiration/environmental challenges to focus on in the whole world, and there are many ways to tell about the challenges we have within our countries and in the world. It is difficult to give advice on which method can be used for this work. I can only speak for myself and my experiences. I grew up on a farm in Northern Norway, and have seen the developments that have occurred in agriculture. Today, we have a monoculture where the cultural landscape is being destroyed, and important areas for valuable insects and animals are being cultivated into fields for a variety of crops. When I now go home to where I grew up, paths, beautiful landscapes and streams have been destroyed and put in pipes to provide grass for livestock. This landscape is gone, it is one that the landscape carries with it a cultural heritage that is not visible, a heritage we all carry with us in our own genuine way. The stories my grandparents and parents told about important events, lived lives and spiritual places in the landscape are gone. And today, it is impossible to pass on this cultural heritage as all traces have been erased. This became my starting point for working with ecology and the environment.

Art and artists play various roles in the fabric of contemporary society. How do you see artistic practices advancing sustainability and social consciousness?

Art is our «Fifth power», and art has the «Power» to make changes in the political landscape, as well as bring forth new ways of seeing the world and the environment. I believe this can apply to all conflicts and challenges we face as a global community. But of course, art cannot do this all alone, but everything starts somewhere in our lives.

What message or call to action would you like to share with our readers?

I have seen and experienced that the awareness we have must be positively influenced already in elementary school, to provide lessons about the inner space that every human being carries. About providing lessons on how to manage the inner space in the face of ourselves, the challenges of life and the world we live in. It is finding tools to create inner peace and balance, which I believe can have fantastic ripple effects in creating respect for the people we meet on our path, and for ourselves, but also in how we treat the planet we live on.

Read more about the artist here.

Cover image:

Arctic Glow by Gjert Rognli.

Portrait image:

The arrival by Gjert Rognli.

All images courtesy of Gjert Rognli.

Explanation «Meeting of three tribes»: Meeting of three tribes is an expression that conveys that the settlement in an area or place has mainly consisted of the three ethnic groups Kvens, Sámi and Norwegian.

Explanation «Norwegianization»: The Norwegianization of the Sámi people was an official policy carried out by the Norwegian government directed at the Sámi people and later the Kven people of northern Norway, in which the goal was to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native populations into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population.

Explanation «Sami»: The Sami are an indigenous people who have their traditional settlement areas in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The land area that the Sami people traditionally live in is called Sápmi. The Sami population lives scattered throughout all the countries that have divided Sápmi between them, both within and outside the traditional settlement area.

Explanation «Kvens»: Kvens are a Balto-Finnic ethnic group indigenous to the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Russia. In 1996, Kvens were granted minority status in Norway, and in 2005 the Kvens language was recognized as a minority language in Norway.

Explanation «Laestadianism»: Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperance movement leader Lars Levi Laestadius, it is the biggest pietistic revivalist movement in the Nordic countries.

Explanation «Stop blood»: Stopping blood is a well-known term in folk medicine. For example, if a domestic animal injures itself and there is blood loss, religious prayers can be used to stop the blood loss.