An existential question of time is always present in my work. How to create a timeless expression where both past, future, and present moment are there, all at once.
Writing, forms and symbols from from old cultures and the present are placed in a dialog in the picture. The human being has its own history, which exists within the history of humanity. Impermanence, time and timelessness.
The pictures are created through layers of beeswax/damar. They are pressed, rubbed down, scraped and painted. Drawings, graphics and monotypes are laid down in the wax to create a connection and a dialog between the layers. Using this technique I can create new spaces in a new reality or utilize the detached memories in an attempt to bring together and communicate more than a simple/single picture can describe.
In the depth of the layers, I want the story to arise/emerge. On the surface, the pictures skin stands out, a tactile texture, that touches the outside world, in the moment.
My expression is not meant to be private, but I do want it to be personal. I am not the master over my own work. Some things can be planned, but each picture is a journey, and I never know where it ends. I must dare to take the journey I have embarked upon.
Perhaps this is the reason for my facination with boats? Boats that carry us from place to place, that let us float on the surface of the sea above the great deeps/depths/abyss. Or like in the myths where the boat takes the person over the river to other realms than those we live in.

Janet Sandø-Healey