Marte S. Gulliksen

In my craft practice I aim to translate neuroscience into contemporary craft. When carving, I negotiate with the log's unique grain structure to find out how it could obtain the shape of a brain cell (p.t. purkinje neurons and astrocyte glia cells). I visualize brain cells as a dense forest where cells live intertwined and interdependent of each other on a microscopic scale. Hidden within our sculls they are impossible to see with the naked eye. Translated to a macro scale in wood, however, they are visible, aiming to spark wonder and curiosity.

Q&A

Artist Statement

In my artistic practice I aim to translate neuroscience into contemporary craft. When carving, I negotiate with the log’s unique grain structure to find out how it could obtain the shape of a brain cell (p.t. purkinje neurons and astrocyte glia cells). I visualize brain cells as a dense forest where cells live intertwined and interdependent of each other on a microscopic scale. Hidden within our sculls they are impossible to see with the naked eye. Translated to a macro scale in wood, however, they are visible, aiming to spark wonder and curiosity.

What craft do you work with?

I carve wood into complex shapes inspired by brain cells. I’ve been fascinated by woodcarving all my life and have just continued carving since childhood. The last 5 years i have carved a lot more, really getting into the craft in earnest and making two series of artifacts: The Purkinje Series and The Astrocyte Series. I work with hand tools only and subtract material from a round log. I make artifacts that often have two or more separated parts, made from the same log, that together makes a whole. I love the feeling when the carving iron and the fiber grain “fits” together, and I can carve smooth chips that falls in gentle curves to my bare toes.

What inspires you to work with this craft?

I’m passionate about the intimate and slow dialogue with the white and soft aspen wood. This act of subtracting parts of the log and develop my artistic ideas is what makes me feel alive and a part of something bigger. I use green wood, preferably directly from the forest when a tree is needed to go down anyway. I store surplus trunks of wood in my freezer so that I can thaw it and work in green wood also during dark winter months. I keep my carving irons sharp and well cared for. They join me in my hikes through the forest, where I find a nice place to sit, smell the greenery and carve in silence. In 2018, i had a brain tumor growing in areas of my brain important for understanding a three-dimensional shape and do mental imagery. I have always been intrigued by the brain and human’s spatial cognition and in my work as a university professor, I study what people learn when carving in wood and why it matters that we carve. When I was diagnosed, I continued carving throughout surgery, chemo and radiation. I explored through my carving how my spatial abilities were limited and how they returned after surgery, and I found that carving was a lifeboat to cling to in the cancer “storm”. Being with the wood in hours upon hours gave value and meaning during this time.

How do you start your creative process?

When beginning a new piece, I bring the log to my workbench in my shed, or in the woodwork area of my university. I fasten the log to the bench and take of the bark. Then I take my vague, initial idea fx my memory of Ramon y Cajal’s drawing of a pigeons purkinje cell, and see how this particular piece of wood could join me in exploring such shapes. I make initial tentative lines and markings on the wet wood and begin carving. The most enjoyable part is the first week or so of carving, when the idea gradually becomes a mutual thing between me and this particular piece of wood. The shapes grow as I chip of pieces and see with my fingertips and warm, sweaty hands where to carve next. I need to carve this part quickly and before the log dries out and begin to crack. I need to have split the log into the amount of parts I want: two or three parts before the drying begin. As the shapes and lines move around and between each other, a simple splitting with an ax will not do. I split the log carefully from many directions at the same time. This nerve wrecking process is both the hardest and the most enjoyable part of the carving. Afterwards follows hours upon hours of deliberate carving to ensure the shapes of all the myriad parts are “right”.

How would you best describe your workspace and what tools could you not do without?

I could not do without my carving irons and access to green wood. In the beginning I also need a woodwork bench, but after the first shaping is done and the object split in the necessary parts. In the rest of the process, I can work wherever, strapping my object to my leg using a rope i tighten with my foot.

Are there new techniques you would like to try?

I still have so much to explore with my current techniques, but then, I have a curious nature and will probably include other techniques down the road.

What have you learnt or the best advice you have received that you would like to share with fellow crafters?

The best advice I have gotten is to “just begin”. It’s not necessary to have thought lengthy, lofty thoughts about what the final result should be or look like. You cannot know this before finding what this part of wood can do, and you can only learn it when negotiating with the unique material. My professional dream is to collaborate more with neuroscientists to explore new shapes to “translate”, and to see how my artifacts can be interpreted and used by them. I would also love to make bigger objects, but time is limited and I think I have a lot to explore in the dimensions I work in currently.

Media & Contact

Representation

Institution: University of South-Eastern Norway

Contact

Email: martesgulliksen@gmail.com

References

Website: https://martesgulliksen.com/

Research: https://www.usn.no/english/about/contact-us/employees/marte-sorebo-gulliksen

Photography credit

Image “Portrait1” – photographer Marek Podowski, NotoddenImage “Portrait 2” – photographer Per Øyvind S. Gulliksen, NotoddenImage “Workspace” – photographer Marte S. GulliksenImages “details…” and “artifacts…” – photographer Marte S. GulliksenPortrait Image: photographer Marte S. Gulliksen