Elena Engelsen
Galleri Brandstrup is delighted to announce Elena Engelsen's solo exhibition titled For the Love of Animals II, a captivating exploration of animal life and vulnerability through sculpture. The exhibition opens on Thursday, 14 November at 6 PM.
Elena Engelsen has spent decades bringing to life the intricate personalities and emotions of animals, portraying them with a profound sense of empathy and detail. Known for her mastery in stone and bronze, Engelsen’s sculptures capture the essence of each creature, from the grand to the everyday, making their presence felt and seen.
Engelsen’s fascination with animals is deeply personal and enduring. As she describes, “I sometimes see an image in my mind—a photograph of an animal or a nature program. Sometimes it’s just a movement or a characteristic pose that compels me to express it.” Her approach is both meticulous and imaginative, working from an iron armature outward when modeling in clay, or carving inward from a stone block when working with marble. Each piece undergoes a long, meditative process, as she continuously refines its form, texture, and movement.
The exhibition delves into the rich emotional worlds of animals, where Engelsen invites viewers to contemplate questions about vulnerability, survival, and coexistence. “What do we learn about ourselves when we meet an animal?” she asks, touching upon the empathy—or lack thereof—that often governs our interactions with creatures of different species.
Among the key pieces featured is Engelsen's sculpture of a column supported by a turtle, inspired by Bernini's columns in St. Peter's Basilica. In her hands, the pillar spirals upward, merging with the turtle’s shell pattern and symbolizing the fragile balance of life and death. Her hare sculptures, titled “Flight I” and “Flight II,” capture the frenetic energy of hares sprinting down a hillside—a memory sparked by two hares she once observed racing across her land in Toten. The baboon sculptures, "Small Flock," reflect her playful composition, with figures stacked and simplified into a kind of pillar motif, paying homage to the communal strength seen in nature.
The white marble sculpture of a rabbit, titled "Albino," represents a fleeting moment Engelsen witnessed: a vulnerable white rabbit with red eyes lying anxiously on a veterinary table, unable to escape. This raw, delicate moment of helplessness is a recurring theme in her work, as she seeks to capture the vulnerabilities animals face in their interactions with humans and the environment.
Engelsen’s fascination extends to the smallest creatures often overlooked or considered nuisances. Her sculptures of insects reveal the delicate beauty of these creatures: the hard, armored shells contrasted with their thin, fragile legs, and wings veined with intricate patterns. She finds the stag beetle particularly captivating, saying its strong, sculptural form seems to demand to be modeled, imagining it fiercely defending its territory. Grasshoppers, which sometimes find their way into her home at the end of summer, become an inspiration as she listens to the quiet sound of their wings hitting the wall. Even the humble woodlice, often regarded as a pest, reveal their beauty to Engelsen with their ability to curl up, showcasing the artistry of their natural armor.
Throughout her career, Engelsen has examined how animals, often reduced to pests or forgotten altogether, hold sculptural beauty and dignity. She brings to light their unique forms: the sculptural wings of bats, whose skeletal structure is laid bare in the delicate skin stretched over their hands, either wrapped protectively around their bodies or spread open in a dramatic display. These creatures, frequently deemed nuisances, reveal the elegance of their forms under her watchful eye, challenging viewers to see beauty where they may least expect it.
Engelsen’s work is inspired by the tradition of animalism, rooted in the legacy of artists like Rembrandt Bugatti. Like Bugatti, who studied animals in the zoo to capture their unique behaviors, Engelsen approaches her subjects with an eye for realism and empathy. Her journey began with extensive training in stone carving and sculpting techniques in Amsterdam, making her one of the few female Norwegian artists of her time to specialize in such a physically demanding medium.
This exhibition offers a rare glimpse into her creative world—a world where animals and humans connect across boundaries of species, anatomy, and instinct. Engelsen’s sculptures invite us to pause and reflect on our place in the natural world, reminding us of the fragility and resilience shared by all living beings.
Engelsen reflects on her process, saying, “I think I just want to share something beautiful and vulnerable that I experience. I try to translate and capture moments in the lives of animals.” Through her dedication to the craft, her art stands as a testament to the enduring beauty and complexity of the animal kingdom.