Photo: Hege Annestad Nilsen
I Savios fotspor
In the exhibition, I Savios fotspor (In Savio's footprints), Hege Annestad Nilsen has used her personal relationship to the Sami artist John Savio´s picture Gánda ja nieida (Boy and Girl) as a base for her work. Annestad Nilsen knew from the first time she saw Savio`s Gánda ja nieida, that she wanted to make her own version of it, a homage to the inspiration Savio has given her as an artist.
For Annestad Nilsen, Savio`s Gánda ja nieida is a visualisation about enigmatic love, a love that changes and grows, and lives a life of its own. A true to life love story. For several years, the artist has travelled around Finnmark, photographing Sami couple, recreating Savio´s image in a modern day setting, through the lens. Every couple is captured in a moment of tenderness, emphasizing both the strong relation the artist has to the work, as well as the essence of what the artist see in the inspiration source. The bold colours in the Sami costumes contrast the background and make every picture vibrant and alive.
Hege Annestad Nilsen is educated at Kunstakademiet in Trondheim and works with photo, video, sound, installations, drawing and painting. Based in Alta, Finnmark, her work has been showed widely both nationally and internationally, amongst other at Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter, Svolvær, Kiruna Kunstforening and The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.