Art at Ladesletta Nursing Home and Day Centre

Artists: Liv Anne Lundeberg, Kyrre Andersen. Title: ‘Ut’ 2011 Vigdis Fjellheim. Title: ‘Mylder’ 2011. Art consultants: Ingun Myrstad, Mikkel Wettre.

Outside Ladesletta Nursing Home and Day Centre, Liv Anne Lundeberg and Kyrre Andersen offer a cheerful welcome with their lit-up sculpture, ‘Ut’ (“Out”), made from metal and plastic. The sculpture curves softly towards the main entrance, guiding visitors in, but also piques a bit of interest, inviting those who have the time to make a little pit stop. On closer inspection, it turns out the sculpture’s softness lies in its shape. On one side of the curved wall, the material is thick, solid steel, blanked out in regular elements that are connected to make an orderly pattern. The other side of the wall is a smooth surface made from the synthetic material polycarbonate. It features a grey and black pattern, echoing the rounded elements on the steel wall, where each one is bent in a different angle from the curved main surface. This results in a variation in the way light is reflected, both natural light and the inbuilt light, which consists of three LED cables on the ground. Each cable has a separate colour; yellow, green and violet light spreads through the hollow sculpture with its slanted and vertical planes, giving the artwork a complex and changing colour spectrum. When viewed from different angles, the sculpture takes on different colours, while its shape gradually transforms from wide and heavy to smooth and slim.

A multitude of colours and styles has also been applied to Vigdis Fjellheim’s murals inside the centre. Each mural fills a wall, one directly above another across three floors, and all can be seen simultaneously through the open gallery.  This allows the viewer to discover similarities and variations in the large works. The similarity is primarily the stark contrast between the foreground and background in the images. People engaged in different activities, situations and phases of life appear as silhouettes against clear skies and open landscapes far away in the distance. The close surroundings – trees, plants and foliage – make for a similar contrast and partially blend into the small and large figures. In terms of colour, there is a clear connection between the murals, with a prominent yellow shade in the top and bottom ones, combined with green and maroon, whereas the middle mural comes with an additional splash of blue to break it up.