Melissa Henderson

Melissa Henderson

16 Sep - 19 Nov 2023

Trelleborgs Museum

The smells of the forest mix with the imagination of the studio. This collection of paintings consists of mushrooms, trees and the palette stains of the studio.

I am fascinated and in wonder about nature and science. The mushrooms’ network that connects the trees and enable communication for them in exchange for nutrition is called mykorrhiza. This network is also known as Wood Wide Web, and is the main focus of this show, hence the title.

Mykorrhiza was discovered by Susanne Simard in 1997 in the project The Mother Tree Project. This map helps us understand how global ecosystems work. Around 90% of the Earth’s plants are in codependence with mushrooms. The mushrooms help the plants to suck up water and provide the plants with nutrition through their mycele. In return the plants provide the mushrooms with carbohydrates. Mykorrhiza lets the plants communicate and help each other.

In the exhibition oil paintings and bronze sculptures are shown. These art works have come to being through investigation and exploration. In the forest a lot of processes go on, like photosynthesis, decay and plants that grow. In the studio there are other processes, creative processes. The palette stains are traces of creative activity. The palette is the compost of the studio, which becomes a compost of thoughts where something new and creative can come.

The public artwork Swirl is a sculpture specifically developed for Berga, Linköping, Sweden. A sculpture made of stainless steel, lacquered with four colours has been created for the bike and foot path along the water stream Tinnerbäcken in Berga. The inspiration for the artwork is a fascination and wonder about nature and science. We humans are a small part of a web of relationships between living organisms and dead matter. The two shapes are leaning against each other. I imagine that the two ovals är mutually dependent. The sculpture consists to a great deal of shapes in-between.

The Spiral, 2020, can be viewed at Aggarpsskolan, Svedala, Sweden. The sculpture is made of stainless steal and lacquer and measures length 5 meters, height 2,6 meters and width 3,3 meters.

The public artwork The Spiral is inspired by the presence of mathematics in nature were the spiralform reoccurs. Spiral shapes can be found in among other things windstorms, water whirls, sea shells and our own DNA. This connection between mathematics, nature and patterns was discovered by the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci in the 13th century.

The shape of the sculpture interacts with the round form of the school’s architecture. The sculpture is mostly comprised of air as the steel shape bends in the airspace. The Spiral invites interaction.

The Spiral was made with affinity with nature in mind. The accelerated impact of humans on the environment on Earth has (by Paul Crutzen) given name to a new ecological epoch: Antropocen, from late 1800 century - until today. Humans effect the balance in nature.

by Melissa Henderson & Marje Taska
 
Out of the Deep Rock is a permanent public art work at Odengatan in Limhamn, Sweden, which was completed in 2016 . The art work is placed opposite the entrance to the new library, which opened at the same time. Out of the Deep Rock was commissioned by Fastighets AB Trianon.
 
Limhamn is situated by the sea in southern Sweden. The lime quarry and the concrete factory are central to the town’s history. With this starting point the artists have created the public artwork Out of the Deep Rock, which represents a slice of a mountain with layers of rock exposed at the same time as the visual language of the sea is mirrored. Out of the Deep Rock both represents layers of rock and is made of stone. The mountain stands as a symbol for the layers of history which is the foundation of the Limhamn of today.  

The artwork is 7 meters high and 9 meters wide and is composed of 17 rows of 15 different kinds of stone (granite, limestone, travertine and quartzite).  

Our history is part of us. It influences who we are and where we are going. The industries were a great part of the affluence we see today in Limhamn. Just like the layers of rock of a mountain are memories of a time before we existed, previous generations and their life works shape our ground of today. With the artwork Out of the Deep Rock we want to visualize these layers of history in a contemporary Limhamn, with constant new layers.  
 

BALANCE is a public art work, which was installed on the square in front of Östralycke retirement home in Karlshamn, Sweden in 2018. It is made of bronze and black diabase, height 3,7 m, width 2,5 m, depth 2 m. The work was commissioned by Karlshamnsbostäder AB.

The public art work BALANCE was inspired by the story of how the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Amazonas can create a tornado on the other side of the earth. The concept of the Butterfly Effect was coined by the mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz in 1979 and illustrates how small causes can have large effects.

In the same manner I imagine that daily care, a single good action by a human can be more important than one might think as it spreads and multiplies. This gave me the idea for BALANCE.

I am fascinated by how things in nature are linked and how we as humans are a small part of it all.  A human life is precious and at the same time one can find comfort in pondering the greatness of nature and the long history of life on earth. 

The spiral bronze shape appears light and as if it balances on the black diabase cylinder. This generated the artworks title, which also refers to balance in life and in nature. The sculpture looks different from different angles and like a sundial it creates a moving shadow. The diabase cylinder is polished so that the surface will reflect the surroundings, and the height of the cylinder makes the whole square accessible. 

Abstract Patterns is a public artcomission comprised of five paintings specifically made for 5 waiting rooms to eye clinics at H-huset University Hospital Örebro, Swede. The work was commissioned by Region Örebro län and installed in 2020. Four works measure width 3 m, height 1,5 m and one work measures width 1,5 m, height 0,75 m.

A trip to Tokyo with a visit to the traditional Kabuki-za Theatre was a particularly important inspiration for these paintings. The extravagant costumes with abstract patterns boldly combined gave associations to contemporary painting. These paintings are also influenced by optical art. With the history of abstract painting in mind it has been my aim to connect with contemporary painting in my own way.

With these paintings I want to convey joy and playfulness, which I hope will contribute positively to the hospital environment. The abstract imagery gives the visitors to the hospital the opportunity to associate freely. Their own thoughts and feelings can be projected on to the paintings, which then can function as a resting place for the mind.

The paintings are composed of patterns, enlarged brushstrokes and circles. Since the majority of the waiting rooms are in connection to eye clinics I have created paintings, which are interesting to look at with both good and impaired vision. It has been my intension to create strong contrasts between colours and light, and an interaction between flatness and depth. The language is clear but with elements of optical play for the eyes.

Say It Out Loud! is a sculpture for the open society, the multiplicity of voices, the importance of freedom of speech, words and art for democracy.

The first idea for the art work was inspired by English Pen’s work to protect persecuted writers and the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The Pakistani Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who actively works for access to education for girls in the Swat Valley became a later inspiration.

Five enlargements of pens stand on the square. The square is an architectural in-between space between buildings and people and the first forms of democracy used it as a meeting place. In numerous squares around the world are monuments of power, kings and warlords. Instead of representing power Say It Out Loud! are pillars of the shared. 

With the work Say It Out Loud! I want to emphasize the importance of access to education, the ever current values of equal rights, tolerance and free press in the debate about democracy in today’s society.  Perhaps one can claim that how rich and free the art and cultural life of a country is, is a measurement of how healthy and civilized it is.

It should not be dangerous to make one's voice heard, to investigate our complex world, question and express that which makes us similar and different, so Say It Out Loud!

The sculpture was originally created for the square outside the City Library in Örebro, Sweden, commissioned by Open Art in 2015. It has since then been exhibited at Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2016 and outside the City Library in Malmö, Sweden in 2016.

What’s Cookin’? was commissioned by Jönköpings kommun, Sweden and was completed in 2017.

The public art work What’s Cookin’? which hangs at the Flahultsschool is inspired by the history of the area around Norrahammar with smithies, water power and the manufacturing of iron stoves. The iron stove manufacturing was an income for the people in the area but was also the kernel of the community.

What’s at the centre for the secondary school students at the Flahultsschool today? In the centre room, where the art work is placed, the students spend their break time. The title What’s Cookin’? is referring to the iron stoves –the centre of the community but is also a play of words referring to the slang meaning “what’s up?”.

The height of the ceiling has inspired the painting. My main artistic role model for this work has been the artist Frank Stella.  

"Together" is a chandelier, which hang at Malmö Central station between 2014-2018. It is made of aluminium and is 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. Inside the chandelier is a tangle of 5000 meters of colourful electrical cable. There is an excess of cable, carefully arranged in disorder. 120 lamps are lit and the impression is a sort of electrical chaos.

The idea comes from how it might look in the air in large cities with a tangle of electrical cable. The chandelier is oversized and the electrical chaos an exaggeration, and with this I attempt to reach something humorous.

Nature strives for chaos and putrefaction while humans frantically try to organise. A big city can never be a homogeneous mass but is in the best case cosmopolitan with a multiplicity of individuals and activities. Together we are perhaps, just as the chandelier a miscellaneous and colourful mix of differences. We interact and help each other. We all need each other.

PASSE-PARTOUT was exhibited at Avesta Art/Verket in 2017. 

PASSE-PARTOUT means pass everywhere and is an installation by Melissa Henderson with film, stamps, doors, paper and music. A ’total artwork’ on the theme of refugee politics and boarders has been created with a music composition written by Anders Vestergård.

The aim is to criticize nationalism and to open a door to warm compassion in relation to refugee politics.

Thousands of papers are stamped with the text PASSE-PARTOUT (pass everywhere) and REJET (rejection), musical rhythms arise and doors are opened. 

We have come to a fictional world, to the stronghold, namely the international department of boarder control. We imagine five officials sitting behind each desk with enormous piles of A4 papers and stamps, made of doorknobs. Five doors with the same type of doorknobs are in the room. On a backdrop moving images are projected of the sea, the bridge in Malmö and clouds. All the world’s national flags hang in the ceiling. 

In this environment a drama without lines are played out. The story is instead driven by the music, which Anders Vestergård has created, with the instrumentation five stamps and five doors. The first part of the music is cadenced, while the second part expresses complex rhythms and increased force. The stamps hit the tables faster, the doors open more frequently, the rhythms develop into an advanced musical piece and the floor is now covered by stamped papers.

PASSE-PARTOUT (pass everywhere) is a metaphor for a new opportunity, to open a door to a new life in a new country, to open a door to warm compassion, or to open a door to new ideas, new ways of thinking around refugee politics. The aim is to criticize nationalism, create a debate around national boarders, the boarders of EU, the possible means of flight (dangerous boats) and the impossible means of flight (airplanes) available to refugees. Would it be possible for the first part of the asylum process to happen in the nearby area to war zones, so that refugees can travel safely to the destination were they want to seek asylum?

The Schengen cooperation enables free movement for the members of EU. Some citizens of the world pass most boarders with ease whereas others are locked out. A world without boarders is an impossible and unfeasible utopia, but it is clear that different passports are unequal regarding movement across boarders.

PASSE-PARTOUT stages a musical poetic image, a surreal set with bureaucratic processes, in the spirit of Orwell. It is my hope that we keep valuing the open warm and generous society despite obstacles and oppression.

All photos by Therese Asplund.
Thanks to Hans Nilsson for technical expertise. Thanks to Caroline Gustafsson, curator Avesta Art and Kenneth Linder, director Avesta Art.

http://verket.se/en/avesta-art-2017/

www.andersvestergard.com

Video by Melissa Henderson
2017
6:40 min
Credits:
Director, as lecturer, editing: Melissa Henderson
Camera: Elin Bengtsson

"Attention Please" was inspired by the books "After the Revolution Women Who Transformed Contemporary Art" and "The Reckoning Women Artists of The New Millennium" where statistics of the unequal representation of male and female artists in the world's most prominent museums and galleries are presented in the introductions. I was stunned about the figures, which is a clear reminder of how much change has to be done to reach equality in the art world. 

In this feminist video the situation is a fictional lecture where loud noisy objects and strange hats are used to get attention. A tie hat, which covers the face and blocks the eye sight plays a key role. Another hat refers to the Suffragettes from the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the world's most famous female artist's names are called out, but merely as examples as there are countless more which deserve to be exposed in museums and galleries around the world. My aim is to say, with anger, repetion and humour, that with this wealth of female artists there is no excuse for the current over representation of male artists. Why are we nice and grateful? Why are we not annoying and angry? We need to transform and spell out the rules, which should be named equality!

When recording the video several hundred names of female artists were read out, but through the editing process only a small part of them, which were visually good in the context, were kept. The selection has therefore become randomised and is not a complete reflection of my preferences of art but instead stand as examples.

He, She, It are sculptural lamps permanently installed in the interactive fitting room at Borås Textile Museum. The lamps are made of iron, light bulbs, textiles and shoes and they investigate how clothes shape identity. 

The lamps were commissioned by Unna design for Borås Textile Museum.

The exhibition White Lies (Vita lögner -en utställning om ondska) comprised of the three works Holy Cock, White Lies and A New Dawn are critical of Donald Trump and the Christian far right in the US, which are threats to democracy, human rights and the climate. With a discomforting and exaggerated perspective of reality these artworks are about lies. 46% of the US population are creationists and populism is on the rise. The US message of the far right politics promote fact resistance. The creationists dismiss evolution, which reinforces denial of knowledge and fuels populism. The long history of racism and segregation in US is built on a lie -the lie that people have different value. Immense amount of suffering and death is the result of this lie, a lie that contests the fact that all humans have equal worth, we all have red blood. The alt-right movement and KKK stand as the utmost consequence of this evil. And the lies are countless that come with the military high-handed position the US hold.

In the film Conversation Cloth I (7:58min) a table cloth was filmed during the duration of a dinner. During each course, food and drink was spilled on the table cloth. The table cloth gradually transforms as more stains are added. The film is without sound. The stains of food and drink evidence that a conversation has taken place, but not what was said. This project attempts to speak of how we each affect each other and transform through exchange.

In the performance Conversation Cloth III (10:45 min) food and drink is served to the audience and spilled on the table cloth. The table cloth gradually transforms as more stains are added. The table cloth is filmed during the duration of the dinner. The consequent video is without sound. The stains of food and drink evidence that a conversation has taken place, but not what was said. This project attempts to speak of how we each affect each other and transform through exchange.

"Chess" refers to the way humans have conquered and divided up land disregarding nature.