Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.05.2015, Síða 39

The Nordic House Reykajavík is a vibrant nordic
cultural institution with exhibitions, a library, shop and
one of the best restaurants in Reykjavik, Aalto Bistro.
The building is designed by the internationally
aclaimed finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
Open everyday, all year from 12–17
Visit www.nordichouse.is for more information
Book your tour: nh@nordice.is

Book a table: www.aalto.is
Sundays – Wednsdays 11–17
Thursdays – Saturdays 11–21
Enjoy food
Enjoy books
Enjoy culture
Enjoy the
Nordic House
Norræna húsið
The Nordic House
A journey
through the
visual world
of Iceland
The Culture House
Hverfisgata 15
101 Reykjavík
The exhibition, shop
and café are open
daily 10 - 17
Closed on Mondays
16/9 – 30/4
Illuminated manuscripts, textiles, carvings,
photographs, paintings and contemporary
Icelandic art www.culturehouse.is
The Culture House is part of the National Museum of Iceland
Hafnarhúsið, on Reykjavík’s waterfront, is a beautiful building. Once home to the city’s har-
bour offices, it’s now the largest of the Reykjavík Art Museum’s three sites, dedicated to con-
temporary art in its manifold forms. Past the large sliding doors and airy lobby and up some
stairs, gallery number six is a particular hive of activity. Behind an “installation in progress”
sign, Korean-American artist Kathy Clark bobs around busily, leading an industrious crew as
they transform the white cube space into another world entirely.
The show is Kathy’s first major solo show
in Iceland, her adopted homeland of the
last ten years. In contrast to the minimal-
ism of Hafnarhúsið’s architecture, her
installation is an explosion of shapes,
textures, colours and sounds. The gallery
is teeming with tall heaps of teddy bears,
hundreds of which have been individual-
ly coated in wax, giving them a pale, spec-
tral appearance. In one corner, lights are
being hung behind some hanging gates,
creating an enclosed bear heaven; in an-
other, a pot of wax bubbles away beneath
a wall-mounted tree sculpture dotted
with bear cocoons. Even at the half-built
stage, it’s already a sensory overload on an
ambitious scale.
Teddy bears know things
Kathy started collecting bears three years
ago. “I stumbled across a crate of them at
the Good Shepherd,” she recalls. “I like
objects that have a history, when you can
see the age and the deterioration. I use
my storeroom as my palette, and go out
to charity shops looking for things that
inspire me.”
In particular, the intense connection
that children have with their early toys
sparked Kathy’s interest. “These bears
aren’t new,” she explains. “They’re used,
once-loved, once-cuddled bears that
were a very high priority in a child’s life.
They were taken to bed, and talked to—
they consoled children when they cried.
They each have a story. These bears col-
lected the presence of the child. They
know things. I thought about what they
would tell us if they could. The show sort
of became an exploration of that secret
life, amongst other things.”
Kathy walks me around the resulting
world. Against one wall lies a row of emp-
tied furs, each one inverted and stitched
with a line of poetry that reveals a glimpse
into the story of its former owner. “These
are the observations of the bears,” ex-
plains Kathy. “The stories are perhaps
based on people that I know, or have been
a part of my life. These are the bears’ se-
crets. Some are nice, but some are not so
nice.” She surveys the skins, gesturing to
each, and reading them out. “This one
says ‘My human child never questioned
life and was not resistant to influences.’
And this one says ‘My human child suf-
fered with complete composure.’”
Finding a path
The room is dotted with cairn-forms, of
the type found in Iceland’s landscape, all
made from waxed bears. It’s a neat meta-
phor for finding a path, whether it’s the
bears finding their way back from chari-
ty-shop abandonment, or the viewer find-
ing a path back into their personal child-
hood experience through Kathy’s work.
But either way, the endpoint of some
bears’ journey is in the exhibition’s cem-
etery corner. “These are the carcasses,”
says Kathy, gesturing to more emptied,
crumpled furs. “Each one has a memory
marker... I took out their stuffing, and
shaped it into these bears up here.” She
gestures to some clouds of shaped stuff-
ing, suspended amongst lights. “They are
the ghost bears, going up, and the carcass-
es stay below.”
The exhibition’s different sections
reveal a long train of thought about the
potential of abandoned toys as both a lan-
guage and as a medium, with all the per-
mutations connected by the internal logic
of the exhibition’s world. A larger bear
covered in black lines represents a guide,
accompanied by recorded bear growls;
another piece is a crib that’s embroidered
with a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘The
Tempest’. The room is lined with bears
that have been distorted, dissected, or
bound tightly into unrecognisable shapes,
offering darkly psychological glimpses
into what can befall children on their
path into adulthood.
“As an artist, I have many things I
want to share,” explains Kathy. “A lot of
it is deeply psychological and emotional,
using this metaphor of the bear. I have
other works I want to make—a plant, an
animal—but always the underlying aspect
of work about being human, and what it
entails to live, to have a day-to-day life
and an emotional life.”
God damn it you have to
be kind
The exhibition is the culmination of three
years of work. I ask how it feels to be
bringing such a large project, especially
one that touches on such tender, personal
subjects, to fruition.
“I’m excited,” smiles Kathy. “I’ve
been excited the whole time making
the work. It’s been fun to be so industri-
ous, I love making things. I have so many
more things I wanna do. Installation was
my passion when I was at the Art Insti-
tute in San Francisco. I made some re-
ally big works, almost as big as this one,
but I started branching into other work,
making smaller paintings, and eventually
stopped altogether, for financial reasons.
I mean, I was always making on the side.
But now, I feel like I’m a re-emerging art-
ist.”
The effort has paid off: ‘bears; truths...’
is a simultaneously complex and accessi-
ble piece that rewards sustained attention
with rich layers of meaning. “It’s really all
about us humans, how we travel the path
of our life and the lessons we all learn,”
says Kathy, brimming with enthusiasm.
“What I’m hoping is that people take the
time to not just see the work, but to expe-
rience it. Maybe they’ll come away having
been reminded of something from their
own childhood.”
As we finish our tour of the show, I
realise that by shining a light onto diffi-
cult psychological states, perhaps Kathy’s
work also illuminates the first steps to un-
derstanding, and even recovery. It seems
suddenly like a generous undertaking.
“Well, thank you,” she says. “I do so love
to give, in every way. Not just in my art,
but in life. It’s so important to give.”
The Bearable Lightness Of Being
Kathy Clark’s maximalist installation is
a step into a dark symbolic world
ART
EXHIBITION
May 21 - Oct 18 Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhúsið‘bears; truths…’
Words John Rogers
Photo Art Bicnick