VILMA BADER
Norwegian Wood
Acrylic on calico, cotton thread, hand stitching
73 x 84cm
$3600
For centuries international artists and well known Norwegian romantic national painters have come to find inspiration in the spectacular Hardanger region of Norway. During a recent artist residency there, I explored how local mythology continues to inform contemporary understandings of nature, identity, and belonging. My work focuses on the Huldra, a figure from Scandinavian folklore whose dual nature embodies both seduction and danger. She lives in the dense woodlands and is often portrayed as a stunning blond woman with a tail, resembling that of a cow. The Huldra reflects the tension between reverence for the natural world and fear of its power. In earlier times, farmers painted crosses on their doors to keep her away. I reinterpret this legacy through the slow considered process of hand stitching, linking material practice to questions of gender, place, and ecology. This work considers how folklore shapes collective imagination and our relationship with place.