Visiting Artist Anne Risum in her Studio in Ry
Text and photography by Nora Benz | August 2022
Whereas some artists use art in order to abstract life, Anne Risum tries to imitate it in her paintings in order to reflect colors and experiences as well as to tell the stories that surround us. Articulate paid the Danish artist a visit in her studio in Ry.
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What do you do to keep yourself inspired and to feel a sense of flow when you are working. Is there anything that helps you to get connected to the art work you are working on?
Good question. At the moment I am totally in limbo; I have no ideas. Usually, the right motive helps a lot. And just doing it helps me as well. I once studied gas masks. I painted ten of them just to not having to invent something new every time. Somewhere during these processes I stop thinking and that is when the feeling of flow is evoked.
Good question. At the moment I am totally in limbo; I have no ideas. Usually, the right motive helps a lot. And just doing it helps me as well. I once studied gas masks. I painted ten of them just to not having to invent something new every time. Somewhere during these processes I stop thinking and that is when the feeling of flow is evoked.
Are your paintings based on real photos?
Yes. I think I am too self-critical to let myself draw, for example, an arm, out of my mind and risk getting it wrong. I would criticize myself too much. Sometimes I let it happen and it’s okay but it’s a different kind of work then. But even in these cases, the only thing I see when looking at these paintings is what is wrong. I actually have a painting at home which I drew from my mind and it’s very incorrect. My son doesn’t understand why I don’t like it. I guess it captures something on a deeper level.
Regarding the photos, I have a collaboration with an analog photographer, Maria. However, I somehow feel like I need to start using my own images. Maybe that is the threshold I am at right now. But all those previous years I have been working in my studio so much that I could not see how I could do both, travel and paint.
Yes. I think I am too self-critical to let myself draw, for example, an arm, out of my mind and risk getting it wrong. I would criticize myself too much. Sometimes I let it happen and it’s okay but it’s a different kind of work then. But even in these cases, the only thing I see when looking at these paintings is what is wrong. I actually have a painting at home which I drew from my mind and it’s very incorrect. My son doesn’t understand why I don’t like it. I guess it captures something on a deeper level.
Regarding the photos, I have a collaboration with an analog photographer, Maria. However, I somehow feel like I need to start using my own images. Maybe that is the threshold I am at right now. But all those previous years I have been working in my studio so much that I could not see how I could do both, travel and paint.
When you start a new piece of work, how do you approach it? What is the first thing you do when starting a new work?
First of all I choose a photo I want to draw. When I go to Maria, we sit on the floor and go through the photos and I usually just know which one is the one I want to draw. But whether it is going to stay this way during the work process, that’s something I never know beforehand. The drawing process is always also a process of getting to know the photo I chose to draw.
First of all I choose a photo I want to draw. When I go to Maria, we sit on the floor and go through the photos and I usually just know which one is the one I want to draw. But whether it is going to stay this way during the work process, that’s something I never know beforehand. The drawing process is always also a process of getting to know the photo I chose to draw.
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Do you always paint a color painting based on a color photo and a black and white painting based on a black and white photo or do you switch that up from time to time?
Usually I paint color paintings based on a color photo. That’s just how my brain works. Also, in my process I want to re-create the colors I see in a photo. For me that has always been the most fun part. Especially because the colors of the photos are very special as the pictures are shot on film. Re-creating these colors, finding the right color-mix, is always a journey, one I really love. By now, I do it very intuitively. It’s so satisfying to be able to know that when you mix color A with color B, you get color C. But Maria has some really nice black and white photos and she said I should paint one of those as well. But I haven’t done it yet. My brain just gets stuck with what is sees. It’s a bit limiting...
Usually I paint color paintings based on a color photo. That’s just how my brain works. Also, in my process I want to re-create the colors I see in a photo. For me that has always been the most fun part. Especially because the colors of the photos are very special as the pictures are shot on film. Re-creating these colors, finding the right color-mix, is always a journey, one I really love. By now, I do it very intuitively. It’s so satisfying to be able to know that when you mix color A with color B, you get color C. But Maria has some really nice black and white photos and she said I should paint one of those as well. But I haven’t done it yet. My brain just gets stuck with what is sees. It’s a bit limiting...
Limitations can be a blessing and a cure for creative processes. They can, on the one hand, lead to even more creative solutions, but can also be what they are, limiting.
Yes, I agree. I have experienced limitations very often. For example, when I was working in a very small space. Then I did very small paintings. Now I am working in a big space, so I do bigger paintings.
Yes, I agree. I have experienced limitations very often. For example, when I was working in a very small space. Then I did very small paintings. Now I am working in a big space, so I do bigger paintings.
Do you prefer bigger paintings or smaller ones?
Bigger ones. It’s just a different feeling of satisfaction. I think it’s the same amount of work, but I just like to imitate life.
Bigger ones. It’s just a different feeling of satisfaction. I think it’s the same amount of work, but I just like to imitate life.
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Humans are often the main subject of your paintings. Has this always been the case? And what is it that fascinates you most about painting people?
Well, it’s not just humans. They are called Lucky People and they are a special tribe. They have somehow chosen a different path, you know what I mean when you meet them. I have met them many times during my travels, the first time in Portugal many years ago. A lot of those people also work in circus, like my family does. They are like an underground world which really fascinates me: how they help each other, how they drive without seat belts - I really feel that we come from the same place. I think, because I know this underground world, I have an obligation to talk about it.
I actually got into art after seeing Horst Janssen at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. It was really really intense. After the exhibition I could not just return to the life I had had before. At the time, I was living next to the main station in Hamburg and saw kids doing drugs every day. Back in my village in Denmark, no one believed me. That was when I realized that if I could draw these experiences, if I could somehow express them in a painting, then they would have to believe me, they would stop saying I am making things up. And of course I am making a lot of stuff up in my painting. But that’s the way of telling all these stories.
Well, it’s not just humans. They are called Lucky People and they are a special tribe. They have somehow chosen a different path, you know what I mean when you meet them. I have met them many times during my travels, the first time in Portugal many years ago. A lot of those people also work in circus, like my family does. They are like an underground world which really fascinates me: how they help each other, how they drive without seat belts - I really feel that we come from the same place. I think, because I know this underground world, I have an obligation to talk about it.
I actually got into art after seeing Horst Janssen at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. It was really really intense. After the exhibition I could not just return to the life I had had before. At the time, I was living next to the main station in Hamburg and saw kids doing drugs every day. Back in my village in Denmark, no one believed me. That was when I realized that if I could draw these experiences, if I could somehow express them in a painting, then they would have to believe me, they would stop saying I am making things up. And of course I am making a lot of stuff up in my painting. But that’s the way of telling all these stories.
In your paintings you address different topics and motifs. One is female persons getting dressed or undressed. I am thinking of your Skinny Dipping or Undressing paintings. But also What you see is what you get is a painting that addresses the female body and its perception. Can you tell me a little bit more about your thoughts behind these paintings?
I think I have been a feminist for many years, although I am not sure if I would still call myself like that. However, the young perfect body doesn’t say anything to me. A body that tells a story, one which has maybe had children, a body that is naked in a natural way, is interesting to me. For me, it is also about depicting the everyday. Like in Undressing, the woman is taking on and off her clothes, something we do every day. Similarly, What you see is what you get, where you see the menstrual pad. I just like that natural dimension, we cannot be perfect all the time. And that again is something I feel obliged to talk about. Also, I want to provoke and show that this is also how we are and that it is actually something quite beautiful.
I think I have been a feminist for many years, although I am not sure if I would still call myself like that. However, the young perfect body doesn’t say anything to me. A body that tells a story, one which has maybe had children, a body that is naked in a natural way, is interesting to me. For me, it is also about depicting the everyday. Like in Undressing, the woman is taking on and off her clothes, something we do every day. Similarly, What you see is what you get, where you see the menstrual pad. I just like that natural dimension, we cannot be perfect all the time. And that again is something I feel obliged to talk about. Also, I want to provoke and show that this is also how we are and that it is actually something quite beautiful.
Would you say you have a certain agenda or overarching message you want to pursuit or share with your art?
I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to waste my time in this life. I want to make use of it somehow. It is always very nice when people, who bought one of my paintings, tell me that it changes the way they feel, when they look at it. Whenever I hear that, I feel like I don’t just waste my life, but that I can actually move something, and am not just here to paint, earn money and pay bills. Sometimes it can feel like that...
I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to waste my time in this life. I want to make use of it somehow. It is always very nice when people, who bought one of my paintings, tell me that it changes the way they feel, when they look at it. Whenever I hear that, I feel like I don’t just waste my life, but that I can actually move something, and am not just here to paint, earn money and pay bills. Sometimes it can feel like that...
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Do you have a least favorite part of the creative process?
Yes, the beginning and the end of a painting. In the end I sometimes start to get bored. Towards the end it is also getting hard because I ask myself whether I should throw the painting away or rather add something. And I don’t really like the beginning because I am often uncertain about the photo I choose. Sometimes I see the photo and think Wow, that’s it. Then the work process flows, goes fast and I see a lot of progress after only a couple of days. But then there are also photos with which it is harder and it flows less. But I always try to keep going and keep believing in it and the drawing. Then I just need to keep myself really focused.
But I have also already burned two paintings and I am currently considering burning two more. One, for example, I painted when I came home from Palestine. I was very moved so I tried to get my thoughts and feelings out in form of a painting. I just had to get it out of my system. Maybe that should have been a small painting. But it’s a large one and I can’t see it hanging anywhere. So I feel like I should burn it. I drew the check-point situation where you are confronted with guns and dogs, and you feel the separation and apartheid happening there. I think everybody has to know about this. But now I have this large painting...maybe it makes sense to someone at some point in time.
Yes, the beginning and the end of a painting. In the end I sometimes start to get bored. Towards the end it is also getting hard because I ask myself whether I should throw the painting away or rather add something. And I don’t really like the beginning because I am often uncertain about the photo I choose. Sometimes I see the photo and think Wow, that’s it. Then the work process flows, goes fast and I see a lot of progress after only a couple of days. But then there are also photos with which it is harder and it flows less. But I always try to keep going and keep believing in it and the drawing. Then I just need to keep myself really focused.
But I have also already burned two paintings and I am currently considering burning two more. One, for example, I painted when I came home from Palestine. I was very moved so I tried to get my thoughts and feelings out in form of a painting. I just had to get it out of my system. Maybe that should have been a small painting. But it’s a large one and I can’t see it hanging anywhere. So I feel like I should burn it. I drew the check-point situation where you are confronted with guns and dogs, and you feel the separation and apartheid happening there. I think everybody has to know about this. But now I have this large painting...maybe it makes sense to someone at some point in time.
How long do you usually work on a painting?
On big ones, around a month and a half.
On big ones, around a month and a half.
You also do cyanotype. How did you start with the blueprints? How did this develop?
It started during one of the Covid lockdowns. I had to stay at home and didn’t know what to do. It is actually funny because around New Year’s I sometimes have very specific dreams. 2021/2022, I dreamt that the year would be blue. At the time, I didn’t know cyanotype yet. Two weeks later I discovered cyanotype on Instagram and was like, Oh this is what I dreamt about. So I bought blue paint and it developed further from there. When I went to Barcelona, to Maria, after the lockdown, we played around with the blueprints which was really fun. It is great that I can test whether a photo works as painting now. With the blueprints I only work with my own photos. That is also a really nice process I think.
It started during one of the Covid lockdowns. I had to stay at home and didn’t know what to do. It is actually funny because around New Year’s I sometimes have very specific dreams. 2021/2022, I dreamt that the year would be blue. At the time, I didn’t know cyanotype yet. Two weeks later I discovered cyanotype on Instagram and was like, Oh this is what I dreamt about. So I bought blue paint and it developed further from there. When I went to Barcelona, to Maria, after the lockdown, we played around with the blueprints which was really fun. It is great that I can test whether a photo works as painting now. With the blueprints I only work with my own photos. That is also a really nice process I think.
What is your favorite corner/part/thing about your workplace?
I like my two work corners the most. There is a different process and energy in every corner.
I like my two work corners the most. There is a different process and energy in every corner.