The Statement of the Jury
Wager has an ongoing dialogue with painting. To a large extent this long conversation is concerned with how our gaze shapes the world, how memories are processed and how our lives are conveyed. She severs the constructed link between photography and memory and shows how creative the act of seeing can be. The point of departure will often be an ordinary snapshot which is then divided into squares. The various parts will then be treated by means of different painterly techniques. A roughly sketched multitude of visual impressions makes the experience ephemeral and recognizable at the same time, thereby underlining that which is changeable – in our gaze, and therefore also in our encounter with the world.
Biography
Kira Wager (b. 1971 in Laxå, Sweden) has dedicated herself to painting since her mid-teens. As she sees it, her artistic practice is based on intuition as well as on questioning painterly methods. The dialogue between painting and photography is one of the characteristics of Wager’s works. To a varying extent she turns the motifs almost abstract and distorts them in a complex play of formal means, for instance grids. She is concerned with our inner images and how our perception is influenced by memories.
Wager is represented with several works in the Nasjonalmuseet (The National Museum) and her works have been acquired by collections such as Nordea, Statoil, DNB, Storebrand, UD, and Haugesund Billedgalleri. She has also had public art commissions and made large works for the Norwegian Parliament, for DNB, and for Høgskolen i Oslo. In 2016 she was Festival Artist at the Haugesund Film Festival. Wager is represented by Galleri K, Oslo.
Kira Wager has her education from Nordiska konstskolan i Karleby, Finland, the Norwegian Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, and the Art Academy in Helsinki.
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Kira Wager, Lillehammer,1.1,109x145cm. Kira Wager, Pentala 1.1,120x160cm. Photo: Susann Jamtøy / TKM. - 2/4
Kira Wager, Laxå,1.1,100x150cm. Ulla,1.1,100 x147. Vellxon,2.I,28,x38cm. Lillehammer,1.1,109x145cm. Photo: Susann Jamtøy / TKM. - 3/4
Kira Wager, Váxjö,113x150cm. Photo: Susann Jamtøy / TKM. - 4/4
Kira Wager, Váxjö,113x150cm. Oslo,4.1,109x145cm. Photo: Susann Jamtøy /TKM.
