"Guillemot blues" 140 x 170 cm (2006)
Acrylic and ink on canvas. Photo: Per á Hædd

"I want to create a dynamic force in a silent world by searching inward - a glasslike revelation of space and time - the pictures are preservations of signs, experiences around us and within me"

- Astri Luihn

Why am I a provincialist? Primarily because that is how artists, scholars and audiences label me when I exhibit my works in different countries. But that is not the only reason. People from my home town are no different from those in other parts of the world. Their everyday issues and themes are explored by people everywhere.

When I see contemporary art I somehow associate it with a distant, feudal past, a time when artists were subservient to the will of the aristocracy and the church. Nowadays they're simply called government ministries, committees, and sound opinion, an homogeneity the arts must submit to. I picture Joseph Haydn in livery, composing for the House of Esterhazy, or pompous male painters - how little things have changed! On the other hand we find the commercialism, visitor numbers and populism in other parts of the art world.

I feel at safe distance from all this; the parrot-like art scene with its false dichotomies. That's why I am a provincialist.

In my art work I try to create a quiet dialogue that conveys my political message; a shared space rooted in my personal point of view and my experience with myths, symbols and stories.

That is also why I am a provincialist.

A guillemot, so be it!

- Astri Luihn