Symbols & Narrative
How symbolism and narrative function in my work
My work often begins in solitude, yet with a strong thread of feeling connected to the world outside. Experiences, my view of the world, stories, and research all travel with me into the studio.
During the conceptual development and the making process, symbolic figures emerge naturally. A female figure, animals with human qualities, a firmly standing house in a wild landscape. But also soft colours beside rough layers, and fragile elements that carry more strength and movement than may appear at first glance.
This symbolism does not arise beforehand. It develops during the making process, through an intuitive painting process. In this way, each work becomes a work with a story, not only my story, but a narrative that leaves space for personal interpretation and recognition. The symbols are not decorative elements, but parts of a larger whole.
Examples of such symbols are the house in the Icelandic Houses series and Sneaky hidden sunflowers. They do not tell the same story.
An example of recurring symbols in my work is the Hare and the Deer.
Years ago, I began sketching female figures with a hare, Drasper the Hare, originating from the fables my father created and told during my childhood. The hare first appeared as vulnerable, later as resilient and steadfast. In my artworks, it returned in female figures carrying small hare dolls. Later, the deer appeared. Stronger,prouder, standing in the landscape. Within the hare and the deer, feminine and masculine elements move into one another. They are not clichés.
The following text is a literary reflection by author Karin Melis, written in response to my artistic process and the symbolism of the hare.
Moving in the liminal
I am hare. In all my appearances Leonoor gives lovingly form to the archetypes living within herself. Extraordinary. Fantastic. I am honored she chose me to enter liminal spaces, transforming without knowledge beforehand where she will find herself. Let me be your guide, was my whisper and she took up her artistic arms and gave life to me. In these paintings of the artist Leonoor shares how she gives light and form to the archetypes living within her. Let is be an inspiration to you.
I who live within you, express who you are
For an endlessly long time you kept me hidden in a drawer, but I forgive you for that, of course I do. It is not always easy to expose your invisible, intimate parts to the light of life. The daze in my eyes, caused by the stifling closeness of the wooden plank above me, no doubt another drawer that was opened daily; I suspect that’s where you kept your makeup. There I lay, in my original form as a limp doll. You painted me dangling from your arm. A limp hare. It did not trouble me in the least. Even though you painted me in every conceivable guise, I was your inseparable companion. For the attentive observer: part of you.
Being lost in the world is exposed, not so much experienced by you yourself, the owner of being lost. Or was this temporary swift of fate secretly the owner of you? But it was seen by me, the limp, seemingly will-less doll you carried everywhere with you. You have no idea how I had to restrain myself when the light suddenly fell upon me as you pulled the drawer open. You looked at me with wide eyes, as if seeing me for the first time. Spreading large sheets out on the floor and I bathed, rediscovered, in the light. I was seen; something inside me rejoiced, and I felt how unknown forces took hold of me. I practically burst out of my skin. I saw how restless it made you, pacing through your living room.
From that moment on you never let me go. Paint, charcoal, brushes and tools were taken up with fire, and I, whom you had kept hidden for so long, came to life in my full glory, life-sized, yes, larger than yourself, on your sheets of paper, on the linen. From a limp doll dangling from your arm, I seemed to bud and expand in all my facets, springing from you yourself. I wanted to say that in your creative drive you crossed boundaries, but those boundaries existed only to give me form. I who live within you and stand life-sized, visibly present, in your exhibitions.
– Author- Karin Melis
More info about a woman and a hare – Read about my artistic vision >
available work
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