Pictas Focus: Interview with the artist
Talking with Cecilie Åserud
Welcome, dear friend, and thanks for choosing to spend a little time with us.
Today’s post is a beautiful interview with Cecilie Åserud and we will dive into her creativity and her way to create art.
To start, here are Cecilie’s social handles. No need to say I highly recommend you follow her and check her work:
Now, grab yourself a coffee, make yourself comfortable and enjoy!
Q: Welcome, Cecilie, it’s great to have you with us today! I think the best way to begin is to share something about yourself.
A: Hi, my name is Cecilie Åserud. I live close to Oslo in Norway with my husband and two teenage boys. I’m a full-time Art Director, and magazine design has been my occupation for the last 25 years. As the years went by, I started to feel the need to create something just for myself and the camera was close at hand. Exactly five years ago I signed up for my first photography workshop, with the Norwegian photographer Morten Krogvold. I had no idea what to expect, and I was completely blown away. Well, mostly it felt like five days in the tumble dryer. I came back confused and disoriented. But all my senses were sharpened. Krogvold talked nothing of equipment or technique, only of the art of seeing and the art of telling a story. And the importance of surrounding yourself with all kinds of great art, not only photography. Paintings, literature, music, movies and so on. I was hooked.
Q: That sounds like the start of an amazing artistic path! Tell us more.
A: It was, actually! Since then, I have attended several workshops with amazing photographers who have shared their knowledge and insights. This has led me on my path, and I’ve learned that the process is the most important journey. The community built along the way is extremely important too. And, you know, just doing the work continuously, and going out of the comfort zone from time to time. To me, photography is a way of self-exploration, and I continue to be fascinated and curious about what will come to the surface in the next frame.
While learning and finding my own artistic dimension, I met the wonderful Pictas team.
I am so grateful for this inclusive creative community and the friends I have made here. The vision - Learn, Create, Inspire together - really resonates with me. Together with Nikki Finch and the team I’ve had the pleasure to contribute to making the online Pictas magazines and this has been great fun and very rewarding.
Q: And we’re so grateful for your amazing support and valuable work on the Magazines!
Back to your own photography, which is your favourite genre?
A: I am inspired by many genres of photography. Art that surprises me, makes me think in a different way or makes me feel something is interesting. The Norwegian photographer Ragne Sigmond is one of my heroes. She taught me everything I know about light painting, and I quickly realized that this was something for me.
Q: That’s awesome! Do you have any specific projects running on the topic?
A: Sure, “Afterthoughts” is a project I have been working on for several years.
It all started with a lemon on my kitchen bench. Cut in half with its leaf still attached. Too beautiful to throw it away, so I left it there for a few days. And it became even more beautiful and more interesting.
I started to collect vegetables, fruits and other crops that caught my attention, and left them to wither in my studio. Actually, “my studio” is basically a basement storage room in our house, crowded, dark and dry most of the time.
To my surprise, I found the crops to be full of life in this final stage. After days, weeks or even months I would select and arrange them in still-lifes to photograph.
Camera attached to a tripod, long shutter speed and lights off. Only myself, a small flashlight in my hand, and my dark canvas were ready.
Q: This is amazing. I saw some of these images on your socials and I find them just incredible. And I’m sure there’s much more than just a greatly executed technique behind the project. Would you explain this to us?
A: Actually I see it as a form of dance, a way to get in touch with the intuitive process and the creative force. Brushstrokes of light enhancing the tableau. Repeated until the frame shows me something interesting.
I want to elevate the appearance of these everyday objects. Show them in a different light. Beautiful, vulnerable, withered, flawed yet strong. They represent something more to me than just ageing objects. I give them human qualities, and so the viewer can read their own story into these images.
Q: Absolutely a great way to look at them. I remember you saying you also won awards and showed them at exhibitions.
A: Yep, that’s correct. I have been very lucky to have been able to showcase and exhibit my work lately. Last winter a local gallery hosted my first solo exhibition. And this year I was awarded third place in the International Photography Awards, in the category of Fine Arts/Still Life for non-professionals. In addition, one of my images was selected for the curated Best of Show exhibition in New York. A huge honour.
All this motivates me to keep working and exploring, and I hope I can inspire others to make and enjoy art.
Q: Wow, this is fantastic. Congratulations.
In conclusion, I want to personally thank you for joining me and sharing your brilliant artistic journey.
A: Thank you very much for inviting me!
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading and make sure to follow Cecilie!
Have a great day.
Learn, Create and Inspire together!
Thank you for the wonderful interview, Matteo!