MUNTHE ART MONDAY: CARLA AND BJØRK NØRREMARK
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
We are twin sisters Carla and Bjørk Nørremark, 21 years old, who have together started the art company Some Other Waves. We paint ceiling and wall murals, which we call eternity art. Our subject matter is inspired by shared childhood memories at Danish beaches, where as a family we spent hours searching for fossilized sea urchins, seashells, and pebbles.
The idea for eternity art arose very randomly one day when a friend asked if we would like to paint her ceiling. Excited by the opportunity to work on such a large canvas, we ended up painting for 10 hours, resulting in our very first ceiling mural.
We were immediately captivated by the liberating process of painting on a large scale and chose shortly thereafter to rebrand our profile, where we previously painted and sold artwork online, to ceiling and wall murals.
We like to think of Some Other Waves as a very fluid project that can evolve in many different directions and in reality something that embraces all that we create together.
Carla and Bjørk is wearing MIMANINA knit and MANCHESTER blazer.
Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
We have always been inspired by our parents' creativity and their appreciation for the little things in life. They taught us to notice life's small wonders - the seashell on the sandy beach, the human body in motion, and the rolling sea. The subject matter of our ceiling and wall murals draws particular inspiration from our childhood memories by the seashore, where we could immerse ourselves for hours. Since we were very young, we have expressed ourselves creatively both individually and together. Painting together requires mutual understanding, a shared starting point, and an almost symbiotic state. In that process, we developed an expression that blends our different painting styles together. The sea quickly became our pervasive source of inspiration and continues to inspire us every day.
MABBELA skirt and MANCHESTER blazer
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?
As such, we haven't encountered any challenges specifically related to being female artists. It probably has to do with the way we navigate the art world. At the same time, there is a sense of calm in being two and always having each other. When we paint ceiling and wall murals, we both communicate and paint directly at the customer's location, which fosters mutual trust. The conversation allows us to create a personal and unique eternity art piece. In our work with eternity art, strangers' homes have become our studio. Besides the excitement of visiting so many different people's homes, it's also fascinating to experience the level of trust and artistic freedom they greet us with.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
As women running our own art business, we are often met with respect for having established ourselves in the art industry, which is often challenging. Our artistic journey has led us to a niche where we can now sustain ourselves with our eternity art. At the same time, we value the slowness and the artistic process behind each eternity art piece. Instead of painting a new piece every day, we prefer to take things at our own pace, allowing room to be human and pursue other creative interests. Our dream is not to scale the business quickly. We are not a factory. We do not wish to compromise our values - slowness, sustainability, love for craftsmanship, and the creation of unique works. Every choice we make as female artists and entrepreneurs reflects and embraces these values. Additionally, we are aware that our art particularly appeals to a female audience, and it's a natural dynamic that we do not wish to change.
What would you like people to notice in your artwork?
We always paint freehand without a sketch and mix all the colors on-site. Our art is site-specific, and we enjoy incorporating the colors from the surrounding space, so it feels like the artwork has always been there. Our painting process often happens with very little communication, as rarely more than a single eye contact is needed for us to know what each other is thinking.
