Kristin Romberg (born 1977) is a Norwegian visual artist who practice ranges from individual two-dimensional works as painting and drawing, to siteworks and performances. She has a degree from Art Academy in Sydney, Australia, Einar Granum College of Art and Westerdals School of Communication in Oslo, Norway.
How did you get into art?
How would you describe your style? What makes your work special?
I paint in an abstract expressionistic style. I work with acrylics on unprimed cotton canvas, very often in big formats. Sometimes I work in many layers on top of each other and sometimes I work with a lot of water and thin strokes with paint. The. paintings are all very different, but together they make a whole. I am a colorist, and my paintings are full of energy. I am inspired by nature, but I don’t paint what I see. I paint my experience of being outside in the forest, by the sea or in the mountains. I research how place and space affects my work. What happens when I move geographically. I have worked in Africa, Costa Rica, Italy, France and Spain, and every time I move new colours, lines and tempo occurs. I have a goal to work all over the world in different spaces and places, outside and inside in different rooms. Opening for new influences and add new layers in my work. The driving force comes from within. I have always had this. I have a huge work capacity and a lot of energy. I use the nature to balance this. I run in the forest, walk by the sea, and go skiing in the mountains. The experiences from outside, I bring back to my studio and I paint the feeling I had outside.
When I install my paintings, the audience are allowed to touch the paintings. I want them to feel a little magic and have a moment to breath, think and just be. I call my project Belong. I want to establish a room where the public is allowed to touch, feel, and lift my paintings. My artistic project is about creating a new, tactile space where people can dream, escape, wonder, breathe, feel, stop, and feel. try to break with the established concept of canvas on stretchers. In exhibitions, I will try to evoke nature and give the audience an experience of moving around in a dense forest.
How do you go about developing your work?
I work a lot and I work every day. I have an ongoing project together with another Norwegian artist. This project has taken me further in my paintings. Every day, we each make a small painting in a given format and on a special paper. Regardless of where we are or what we do, we make this small painting. Then we take a photo of it and post it on a blog and on Instagram. Today is day number 3794 (soon 10,5 years). It is like a visual diary, and I can see that things I do in this small format appears later in my large paintings. Here is a link to our blog: https://365rombergtronstad.wordpress.com and my Instagram for this project is: Kristin_jensen_romberg
Who or what influences you?
I am inspired of a lot of artists on Instagram. I am also inspired by abstract expressionism (New York school) and especially Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell and Lee Krasner for their braveness at their time. I use nature and being outside, walking in the mountains, skiing, sailing, surfing influence what I do in my studio.
Make us curious. What is planned next?
Next week I am going back to France and Nice. I am invited by a gallery there #continental_art_gallery and hopefully we will cooperate in the future. Later this year I am going to Kenya, Africa to work with new paintings.
I have no big exhibitions planned, but I am waiting for invitations.
