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The aim of my artwork
My artwork aims to inspire individuals to explore their own emotional landscapes. I believe that art has the power to evoke feelings and provoke thought, encouraging a deeper understanding of oneself. Through my creations, I encourage viewers to embark on a journey of self-discovery and reflection. Therefore, the value of an artwork is primarily created in the mind of the viewer.
I hope as an artist to be the catalyser of diverse personal experiences. In my view any intellectual interpretation of an artwork is less interesting, as it does not create a lot of value for the individual person. Bringing to the surface the emotions of the individual and accepting the rich diversity among us is the purpose of my art.
The early years
First of all,I painted because I could not stop doing it, However for many years my professional carreer as medical doctor and scientist limited the time I could spend on this. Since I still had an active professional life, I chose to have an artist name (volkvard) in addition to my civil name: Jorgen Folkersen. Volkvard is an earlier version of my surname that was used in my family about 150 years ago.
The first decades
I have now lived approximately 2/3rds of my life (statistically speaking). For 30 years, I painted semi-professionally until I decided to become a full-time artist in 2019. Specific events in my life formed my relation to visual arts. In my first 20 years, I had a moderate production which I exhibited and sold to private company-based art clubs in the Copenhagen area.
After having done some surveys, I learned that specific paintings that were adored and loved by some, were often deemed disgusting or awful by others. There were also specific paintings which were deemed boring by some and very interesting by others. The general picture was clear: Art is not a democratic process.
“The value of an art work is created in the viewer’s mind only”
I also examined what was the rationale for this difference. The big surprise and learning for me was: For most of my paintings, people were inspired to very different emotions.
It was obvious that the observers were more often inspired by their own life and psychological experiences as compared to the intentions I had when I made the paintings.
To exemplify this I have made a series of videos, showing the emotional reactions from three different persons to the very same painting. Three such videos can be viewed here:
The later years
For me it was really liberating to learn that any experience of art is strictly personal and cannot be democratised into common aesthetics or rules.
Since I could only vaguely guess what exactly my viewers experienced, I had to give myself full freedom to paint what I personally felt passionate about – sometimes not knowing the origin of my own passions.
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