別的聲音，別的房間 Other Voices, Other Rooms

索迪絲．阿德丹斯多堤個展 Thordis Adalsteinsdottir Solo Exhibition


展覽時間 Duration：2016 年 7 月 23 號 ( 六 / Sat. )  至 2016 年 8 月 31 日 ( 三 / Wed. )

開幕茶會 Opening Reception：2016 年 7 月 23 號 (六) 15:00

藝術家 Artist：索迪絲．阿德丹斯多堤 Thordis Adalsteinsdottir

地點 Venue：台北市中正區金山南路一段67巷5號1樓 No. 5, Lane 67, Section 1, Jinshan South Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei 

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假使美國文學家楚門．柯波帝（Truman Capote）透過半傳記式小說《Other Voices, Other Rooms》尋找一個想像人物存在的痕跡，那麼索迪絲即是藉由繪畫映出人類情感的真實面容。

二次世界大戰結束不久，柯波帝創造了一個來自美國南方的小男孩－喬爾．哈里森．諾克斯，藉由男孩尋找父親的過程，實現自我認同的欲望。書中聲音是和世界溝通的媒介；房間則是隔絕外部的屏障，內與外之間柯波帝寫來文字，索迪絲抹出繪畫。選擇「Other Voices, Other Rooms」作為展覽命題，是索迪絲歷久醞釀的想法，兩者關係或許能從索迪絲與柯波帝的創作世界中略窺一二。





過去曾有書評認為，《Other Voices, Other Rooms》裡南方男孩喬爾前往莊園找尋父親的旅程，可以說是男孩走進自己潛意識的過程。而「Other Voices, Other Rooms」作為索迪絲此檔展覽的命題，無所畏地展露人們避而談之的慾望、想像、感知與激情，舒張積埋已久的心理毛孔，或許正是巧妙地將繪畫置放於連通世界與內心的假想空間中，成為內外相互映象的真實之鏡。

While American writer Truman Capote tried to find the trace of an imaginary character’s existence via his semi-autobiographical novel “Other Voices, Other Rooms”, Thordis Adalsteinsdottir attempts to paint the true features of human beings’ emotions.

Shortly after the truce of World War II, Capote created a little boy named Joel Harrison Knox, who originally came from New Orleans, in “Other Voices, Other Rooms”, the first novel he published. In this novel, Joel satisfied his desire for finding self-identity through a journey to looking for his father. “Voice” is a communication medium with the world while “Room” is a barrier between inner and outer space. Capote writes novels while Thordis draws paintings. Choosing “Other Voices, Other Rooms” as an exhibition title has been a lasting idea in Thordis’s mind for a long time. From this exhibition, we can discover the delicate relationship between their writing and painting worlds.

All characters in Capote’s story are peculiar and eccentric, such as an eloquent gay uncle, an emotional stepmother, or a tomboy twin sister. This rare way to depict characters actually reflected the most real appearance of the American society, which advertised itself as a continent of freedom in those days. Coincidentally, creatures in Thordis’s paintings all have an extremely strong ability to narrate, with sharp prying eyes, slender limbs, and odd behaviors unconsciously forming a treacherous atmosphere.

Compared with other Nordic or Icelandic artists, Thordis continues with a natural and scenery-like style in the use of colors and compositions, rather than in painting mountain peaks  and glittering river directly. Those colors presented on canvas are like water flowing between sand and stones, cedar leaves floating in high latitude mountain, or light glowing in the quiet night sky. Critics usually attribute this way of painting to the magnificent landscapes in Northern Europe, dressing the artist an inherent snow-white layer of chiffon. However, LOVE and LONELINESS, which are often mentioned in Capote’s novel, are the main themes Thordis talks about on the basis of Nordic painting style. There is no doubt that her paintings become a more realistic human self-portrait.

It is impossible for us to take our eyes away from creatures in Thordis’s paintings. Most of them originate from the artist’s daily life: stars showing up in movies, pets hiding in the corner, or people encountered on the streets. Reading can always be a trigger for Thordis to tell a new story with pigments through her own conversion. It is the characters living in books that make her painting an ecological documentary with countless unfamiliar and cruel images in the end.

The other thing that could not be ignored is the wallpaper-like background, mostly in a single pattern, shown repeatedly in Thordis’s paintings. In this way, the artist does not have to position the main features particularly and is capable of creating an infinite space full of IMAGINATION between works and audience. As a result, the painting itself has an ability to start an endless dialogue within generous dimensions.

In some book reviewers’ opinions, the writer regards Joel’s journey with a motive to find his father as a process of walking into his own subconsciousness. As an exhibition title, “Other Voices, Other Rooms” is a way for Thordis to talk about DESIRE, IMAGINATION, PERCEPTION, and PASSION that people are always afraid to mention. To be more precise, Thordis magically places her paintings into a virtual passage connecting inner and outer worlds, which becomes a mirror to reflect the truth.