CV & biography

CV complete 2024
Chronological list of artistic activity, talks, publications, academic work, education, positions etc.

2024 11 CV_complete_RefsumDownload

Biografi
Grete Refsum (1953) arbeider med eksistensielle temaer knyttet til religion og spiritualitet, samt traumevandring og minner fra andre verdenskrig.

Med utgangspunkt i glassmaleri og skulptur har hun utviklet egne teknikker for å bygge opp objekter i metalltråd. Hun arbeider for hånd og integrerer ofte funne materialer i sine arbeider, menneskeskapte eller naturgitte, så som: plast, glass, tekstil eller stein, tre, nøtter, skjell, ben.

I flere tiår har hun systematisk utforsket sentrale kristne begreper, symboler og praksis: korset og
krusifikset, bønn og meditasjon, liturgi og tekst. Teologisk er hun forankret i vestlig kristen tradisjon, inspirert av samtidsteologi og historisk-kritisk forskning, samt dialogarbeid, økumenisk, interreligiøs, og sekulær. Hennes arbeid er brukt temporært i mange kirkerom og ulike sammenhenger, både liturgisk gjennom kirkeåret, og i trosopplæring. Eksempler fra de siste årene er bidrag i Sinnsrogudstjeneste i Sjåstad kirke (Lier), Vandring mot påske i Holmen kirke (Asker) og Allehelgen i Berg kirke (Halden), samt utstillingen Sorgprosjekt i Sagene kirke (Oslo), som var et kunstnerisk tilsvar på tap av ektefelle.

Refsum har permanente utsmykninger i et 20-talls kirkerelaterte og stille rom, ikke minst Teksttavler innkjøpt i Gullaug kirke (Lier) i 2022. I tillegg til egen produksjon av varige verk har hun initiert og gjennomført en rekke eksperimentelle, interaktive kunstprosjekter og installasjoner i kirkelig sammenheng; noen knyttet til dans og bevegelse, andre basert på tekst skrevet på gulvet med knust glass, eller fellesarbeider i brukte tekstiler. Eksempler er Verksted på Vollen (Gran), Skje din vilje i Nøtterøy kirke, Binde sammen i Oslo domkirke (samarbeid med Amnesty International), og Ecclesia på Skøyen som inngikk i konfimantopplæringen.

Hennes nåværende arbeid kretser rundt tradisjon og natur, mytisk tenkning versus logisk vitenskapelig.

Biography
Grete Refsum (1953) is a professional visual artist, working on existential topics related to religions and spirituality, as well as tradition and memory related to World War II.

Since the 1980s, she has systematically – most often in series – explored Christian ideas and symbols: the cross/crucifix, the rosary/prayers/meditation, liturgy and texts. Theologically, her work is rooted in Western traditions, The Roman Catholic Church and The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway. The artistic concepts are informed by current research on the topic dealt with, not least theological and historical-critical thinking. Her work invites dialogues about how to cope with traumas, and for the religious work, it opens for ecumenical, inter-religious, including secular dialogues.

Drawing on a wide specter of artistic competences from painting, sculpture and the production of stained glass windows, Refsum has developed a personal technique of binding metal thread in combination with found materials: stone, wood, rubbish, glass, textile, etc. Since 2010, she has initiated several interactive, public works within ecclesial spaces, based on thrown away textiles.

She has held numerous artist’s talks, lectures and workshops, contributed in art projects, particularly in ecclesial spaces that comprise: liturgical use of art through art interventions and installations, performances, shows of various kinds, permanent embellishments and catechesis.

Since 2010, Refsum has approached themes related to World War II. The first project titled Tante Vivi, prisoner no. 24127 Ravensbrück (exhibited in 2013, now in Landeskogen Peace Center, Norway), deals with her nanny, grandaunt Live Carlmark (born Thune), the sister of her paternal mother, who protested against the Nazi occupants in Norway, and hid Jewish refugees in her apartment in Oslo (autumn 1942). In spring 1943, she was imprisoned in Norway (Grini), and in October transported to Ravensbrück, where she barely survived 18 months imprisonment. The second project was made (2017) for the Gedenkstätte in der JVA Wolfenbüttel (Germany), Neugestaltung. It is a modeled relief, made as a paraphrase after a photograph of a lost relief made by her late husband’s father Wilfred Jensenius. It depicts himself and two comrades imprisoned in a cell in Wolfenbüttel in 1945. Refsum also has participated as Zeitzeuge/contemporary witness to the new memorial archives. The third war related project is a work of micro history, in which she tells her personal story related to the Second World War. She was named after a holocaust victim, a Czech Nansen child refugee, living in Norway from 1939-1941. The project was completed by setting Stolpersteine for Grete Gutesova and her parents in Prague 2022.

During the last years, Refsum has accomplished a Sorgprosjekt/Mourning project in response to the loss of her husband in 2017. It has been shown in the Gedenkstätte in der JVA Wolfenbüttel 2021, Sagene church (Oslo), Easter time 2022, and partly in the collective exhibition Art Direct West, Fossekleiva (Viken, Norway).

From 2017-2020, Refsum has been a par time student at MF-Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (Oslo), completing the KRLE-course. In a course on church architecture (RL2615), she wrote about Vestre Aker kirke.

Currently, her ongoing work deals with religion and nature, mythos and logos.

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