Welcome to the vernissage of exhibitions The Strawflowers’ Journey by Mingshu Li and Less than Tree by Iver Lennartson Noem on April 9 at 18:00.
The Strawflowers’ Journey by Mingshu Li, traces the migration of the Strawflower motif (Stråmønster) from Chinese blue-and-white porcelain through European reinterpretations and into its later naturalization in Norway. Through sculptural translation, fragmentation, and repetition, the project treats ornament not as surface decoration but as a moving visual system shaped by cultural exchange, adaptation, and memory. By transforming a painted pattern into three-dimensional ceramic structures, the works explore how motifs travel, change meaning, and gradually begin to “grow on their own” beyond their original context.
Mingshu Li
The exhibition Less than Tree is about the effect the woods’ spirit has on human inner life. Noem unites the human and the forest through his collage-like visualization of nature.
Iver Lennartson Noem
About the artists:
Mingshu Li is an Oslo-based Chinese ceramic artist (MA, KHiO 2020), who explores non-traditional approaches to clay, using the material to understand her identity and relationship to place. Her artistic practice focuses on ceramic sculptures that investigate the interplay between form, space, and airflow. Her works are in collections at KODE Art Museum, Jingdezhen Ceramic University Museum, and MIC Faenza Museum.
(photo by @olha_korop)
Iver Lennartson Noem (2000 - ) is an artist from Gjøvik, based in Oslo. His artistic practice is mainly based on drawing, painting and photography. Psychology, science, philosophy and spirituality are all forces that drive and inspire his work. Noem`s art reflects memories and a rich inner emotional life through surrealistic motifs. He most often works with formulating and composing the human body, where the bodies twist and turn in whimsical concoctions. Where, who, what and why become central questions in his practice.