MUNTHE ART MONDAY BOLATTA SILIS-HØEGH
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
My name is Bolatta Silis-Høegh, I am a visual artist and mother of two wonderful teenagers. I was born and raised in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), have Latvian roots, and am now residing in Copenhagen.
My primary medium is painting, which I have also worked with in the form of a series of installations. Additionally, I have published three children’s books about Aima.
In recent years, my focus has had a psychological foundation, with a focus on generational trauma, and the common thread has been a cycle of (self)recognition, (self)understanding, and (self)care.
Bolatta is wearing Kliomi jacket, Kosmila pants and Franci bag.
Can you explain more about how being a woman h-as affected your career?
I believe it has been a superpower! Despite resistance, huge income disparities between male and female artists, and having an unstable profession, I have continued to find a necessity in finding motives and images that I could emotionally relate to. That sensitivity and curiosity is a resilience that means something. In May, I will be exhibiting with my mother, who is also a visual artist. For that exhibition, I have created 9 large shell-shaped paintings that celebrate the female cycle. The female cycle, which is always problematized in society, but which is the foundation for creating life and contains a range of moods and many transitions, a spectrum that can give psychological insight and again - resilience.
Bolatta is wearing Kliomi jacket and Kosmila pants.
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?
The inequality between female and male artists in the art world. Men still earn more, are more exposed, are shown more in museums and other cultural institutions - basically, they are taken more seriously.
Being marginalized has been one of the reasons for a lower self-esteem, which was also connected to my artistic work. I didn’t know my own worth, so I was bad at negotiating pay for assignments, selling my art, and I was the biggest critic of my own work. When I discovered that these self-blaming voices were not my own, but how the societal structure is built and internalized in us, I almost got angry with myself for being blind to it. Until I realized that it was self-care I needed, a forgiveness, and to hear my own voice supporting and cheering for myself and others.
Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
For me, inspiration changes from day to day, just like in my cycle. In the past, I might have had a favorite artist, favorite film, or favorite music, a narrative you can share with others, but I reflect myself in different artists depending on what mood I am in, the season, or life circumstances. Today, in the spring sunshine, I thought about some of Signe Erichsen’s paintings. I felt the energy, femininity, and sensitivity in her works, and every work has something different, which also changes from day to day.
Bolatta is wearing Kliomi jacket and Kosmila pants.
What would you like people to notice in your artwork?
An embracing presence, self-care, that you can feel the energy in the paintings, and curiosity to understand and express emotions through the paintings or installations.
Bolatta is wearing Kliomi jacket, Kosmila pants and Franci bag.
