Ann Iren Buan

Ann Iren Buan (b. 1984, Stjørdal, Norway) lives and works in Oslo, Norway. She graduated with an MA degree in 2011 from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. She has also studied at The Royal Academy of Art, Stockholm and China Art Academy, Hangzhou. In her practice, Buan explores the notion of decay and destruction through drawing and sculpture. Monumental, delicate, sensuous and haptic, her work investigates the materiality of drawing in a three-dimensional sculptural expression. Her sculptures are in a continuous process of ruination, a process further reinforced by her choice of materials. Edging towards a point of collapse, the works insist on a continued existence and are often used as elements in new artworks in a cycle of decay and renewal. Buan experiments with conceptual aspects of drawing and is interested in the limitations and possibilities of the two-dimensional surface. She challenges the conception of what drawing can be with monumental works made using materials such as soft pastels, paper, and plaster. Her sculptural expression retains the meditative quality of drawing and adds corporeality to the medium. She draws layers and layers of dry pastels on several sheets of paper, using several different colours to get the right shade on each sheet of paper; the colour palette includes shades of pink, yellow, green and blue. In some works, the colour is reminiscent of skin, dry hands or bruises; in others, the use of blue reminds us of deep and dark oceans.

Portrait: Photo by Sigrid Bjorbekkmo