Visiting Visual Artist Lars Worm in his Studio at KH7 Artspace
Text and photography by Nora Benz | March 2022
Art can be educational, emotional or provoking. Art can be sad, serious or shocking. But art can also be fun, joyful and humorous. And often art addresses all of these feelings at the same time. Using primarily simple and natural materials, visual artist Lars Worm creates art works that reflect a gentle sense of nonchalance, joyfulness as well as lightheartedness while simultaneously leaving the viewer behind with an uncanny, bitter-sweet feeling. Articulate paid the Danish artist a visit in his studio at KH7 Artspace.
You make paintings, sculptures and installations as well as photo works. Do you have a favorite form of artistic expression? If yes, why?
I don’t know if I have a preferred one but I’d say mostly paintings and sculptures. However, I don’t think my paintings are paintings. I rather see them as wall objects as there is usually something extra to the canvas in addition to the painting like for example a frame I made. Most of the time I decide which medium I want to use when I have an idea for an exhibition or for a piece of work. Then I decide whether it should be a painting, a sculpture, an installation or photos. Although I don't really do photo works anymore. When I get invited to an exhibition it is very easy because I often get asked to do sculptures for exhibitions with other painters. Then I know what to do. When I do my own works, a solo exhibition, it is not that clear. But it is hard to explain how exactly I choose the medium. I always have a frame and an idea for my works. It can just be a term or a phrase or something similar. I then sort out how to exactly make the show and try to find a way to create pieces for the walls and for the floor and how to connect the different elements with each other. I am not very strategic. I mostly just do. I mean, I have my sketchbook in which I draw down simple sketches but they primarily are a reminder so that I don’t forget my ideas within the next week or month.
I don’t know if I have a preferred one but I’d say mostly paintings and sculptures. However, I don’t think my paintings are paintings. I rather see them as wall objects as there is usually something extra to the canvas in addition to the painting like for example a frame I made. Most of the time I decide which medium I want to use when I have an idea for an exhibition or for a piece of work. Then I decide whether it should be a painting, a sculpture, an installation or photos. Although I don't really do photo works anymore. When I get invited to an exhibition it is very easy because I often get asked to do sculptures for exhibitions with other painters. Then I know what to do. When I do my own works, a solo exhibition, it is not that clear. But it is hard to explain how exactly I choose the medium. I always have a frame and an idea for my works. It can just be a term or a phrase or something similar. I then sort out how to exactly make the show and try to find a way to create pieces for the walls and for the floor and how to connect the different elements with each other. I am not very strategic. I mostly just do. I mean, I have my sketchbook in which I draw down simple sketches but they primarily are a reminder so that I don’t forget my ideas within the next week or month.
Do you have a favorite material to work with or one that you don’t like?
No, not really. I like simple materials that are not expensive and that everyone can get in the hard-ware store. That’s it. However, I have also done works using bronze or brass, materials that are more connected to the fine arts tradition. But I like to keep it simple and grounded. Also because when I work it can get quite rough. And I also like the idea that you and I could have made it.
No, not really. I like simple materials that are not expensive and that everyone can get in the hard-ware store. That’s it. However, I have also done works using bronze or brass, materials that are more connected to the fine arts tradition. But I like to keep it simple and grounded. Also because when I work it can get quite rough. And I also like the idea that you and I could have made it.
Are you usually working on multiple art pieces at the same time or do you prefer to focus on one after the other?
I used to continuously do works on and on without having any plans for them. But this has changed during Corona times. I have become a teacher and a lot of other things have come up. I also don’t feel the urge to produce new work all the time anymore. I have only made very few works during the last half year and that’s very strange for me. But it actually feels fine to do less. I think this is also because, by now, I have been in the art game for quite some time and am thus more confident with what I am doing. Having said that, I still have a lot of self-doubts. You are always presenting a part of you and in a way you stand there naked. My works are connected to my history, in a sense they are self-portraits and they reflect where I come from and so on. I grew up on the countryside and I guess this is also why I work so much with natural materials. Nature and how we see nature is an underlying theme in almost everything I do.
I used to continuously do works on and on without having any plans for them. But this has changed during Corona times. I have become a teacher and a lot of other things have come up. I also don’t feel the urge to produce new work all the time anymore. I have only made very few works during the last half year and that’s very strange for me. But it actually feels fine to do less. I think this is also because, by now, I have been in the art game for quite some time and am thus more confident with what I am doing. Having said that, I still have a lot of self-doubts. You are always presenting a part of you and in a way you stand there naked. My works are connected to my history, in a sense they are self-portraits and they reflect where I come from and so on. I grew up on the countryside and I guess this is also why I work so much with natural materials. Nature and how we see nature is an underlying theme in almost everything I do.
What aspect of the creative process do you like most?
I really enjoy a day like today when I can just be in the studio and create. For me art has to be fun to do and to experience. Of course art can also be serious and a lot of other things but I get mostly attracted by art works that have some joyfulness or humor to them. And that’s also something I try to reflect in my own work. I also make my art bitter-sweet so it is fun and joyful but at the same time has an underlying uncanny danger. But again, to me it has to be fun to make art.. I also think that you can see in my work when I enjoyed doing it and had fun during the process. This also includes that I sometimes sit in my studio for hours, simply looking, thinking, listening to music. And then suddenly something happens.
I really enjoy a day like today when I can just be in the studio and create. For me art has to be fun to do and to experience. Of course art can also be serious and a lot of other things but I get mostly attracted by art works that have some joyfulness or humor to them. And that’s also something I try to reflect in my own work. I also make my art bitter-sweet so it is fun and joyful but at the same time has an underlying uncanny danger. But again, to me it has to be fun to make art.. I also think that you can see in my work when I enjoyed doing it and had fun during the process. This also includes that I sometimes sit in my studio for hours, simply looking, thinking, listening to music. And then suddenly something happens.
Which artistic and non-artistic disciplines influence your creative process and work?
I don’t really know if there is something particular that influences me. I have a lot of visual artists that I like and that I find very inspiring; Mike Kelley for example. But I also listen to a lot of music and read a lot of books. I mainly listen to different kinds of rock and punk music and when I am working I like to listen to classical music and Norwegian Folk music.
I don’t really know if there is something particular that influences me. I have a lot of visual artists that I like and that I find very inspiring; Mike Kelley for example. But I also listen to a lot of music and read a lot of books. I mainly listen to different kinds of rock and punk music and when I am working I like to listen to classical music and Norwegian Folk music.
You also do public art works like Atletik, a commision for the new entrance to Marselisborghalen, in Aarhus. What about creating public art do you like most and where do you see the most difficult challenges with regard to creating public art works?
I like when the art pieces fight with their surrounding. I think public art is important but it is also a strange discipline. You really have to listen to what people want and there are a lot of restrictions and rules you need to follow. Therefore it is not as free as when doing your own stuff. Instead you need to deal with a lot of different interests and I think that’s the biggest challenge. You really need to listen.
I like when the art pieces fight with their surrounding. I think public art is important but it is also a strange discipline. You really have to listen to what people want and there are a lot of restrictions and rules you need to follow. Therefore it is not as free as when doing your own stuff. Instead you need to deal with a lot of different interests and I think that’s the biggest challenge. You really need to listen.
Your 2017 exhibition Bad Harvest features a relief showing an arm and a hand with an apple in it. The description reads: "A picture of the seconds just after the fall of man. It was a really bad decision to pick that apple, a symbol of poor judgment. An incredibly bad harvest. Ever since then, man has made infinite many bad decisions, and we will continue to do so. The race has been run and we can only wait for the final harvest." Can you elaborate a little bit more on the backgrounds and thoughts of this project?
Bad Harvest was an exhibition I showed in Madrid. It consisted of small brass sculptures and two wooden reliefs. One of them was a hand hiding an apple which can be read as a reference to Eve harvesting an apple. That’s why the exhibition was called Bad Harvest; it addresses the fall of mankind. Beyond that it was mainly about body parts and how you perceive how you look and how you see things as well as how something goes from abstract to a figuration. I am not afraid of using big topics because big topics are also kind of banal. I think this is also why I do faces right now. Faces are in a way the most banal you can make. I also think you don’t have to take Bad Harvest too literal. I deal a lot with death, faith and religion. I grew up in a religious environment and together with nature I have a game, one could even say a fight, going on with religion and spirituality. I always find it difficult to explain where my ideas come from. I think every artist has his/her/their own way to get ideas. I think the common thing is that the idea sometimes just comes to you but you can’t really trace back its origin. But of course I also steal a lot and I look a lot at art on the internet and in books. I get inspired by a lot of things and then try to remember what I like most. Although I might not always remember it, it somehow remains in the back of my head. Which can be a little bit dangerous because you need to be sure that it is your own ideas. But I think all artists steal and have things they get inspired by. To me, what I am doing right now, these plaster masks, they are very inspired by Mike Kelley. But not in the sense that I have seen him doing these masks as well but rather that I think he could have done them, too. So I try to get into the artistic practice of artists that inspire me and whose practice I like. Sometimes I think, what would Mike Kelley have done?
Bad Harvest was an exhibition I showed in Madrid. It consisted of small brass sculptures and two wooden reliefs. One of them was a hand hiding an apple which can be read as a reference to Eve harvesting an apple. That’s why the exhibition was called Bad Harvest; it addresses the fall of mankind. Beyond that it was mainly about body parts and how you perceive how you look and how you see things as well as how something goes from abstract to a figuration. I am not afraid of using big topics because big topics are also kind of banal. I think this is also why I do faces right now. Faces are in a way the most banal you can make. I also think you don’t have to take Bad Harvest too literal. I deal a lot with death, faith and religion. I grew up in a religious environment and together with nature I have a game, one could even say a fight, going on with religion and spirituality. I always find it difficult to explain where my ideas come from. I think every artist has his/her/their own way to get ideas. I think the common thing is that the idea sometimes just comes to you but you can’t really trace back its origin. But of course I also steal a lot and I look a lot at art on the internet and in books. I get inspired by a lot of things and then try to remember what I like most. Although I might not always remember it, it somehow remains in the back of my head. Which can be a little bit dangerous because you need to be sure that it is your own ideas. But I think all artists steal and have things they get inspired by. To me, what I am doing right now, these plaster masks, they are very inspired by Mike Kelley. But not in the sense that I have seen him doing these masks as well but rather that I think he could have done them, too. So I try to get into the artistic practice of artists that inspire me and whose practice I like. Sometimes I think, what would Mike Kelley have done?
You also teach and give lectures, like currently at Byhøjskolen. How is it to work with aspiring artists and what is particularly important to you when teaching?
Yes, I teach at a pre-school for the art academy so I mostly work with young people between seventeen and their early twenties. It is super interesting and fun and also so inspiring because they are there to learn and they really want to learn. At the same time I can learn from them as well. I think I have a lot I can teach these young people but it is not a one way dialogue. I can come with ideas but in the end it is on their own to find out what they want and how to use my advice. In general, I just want them to be critical, to believe in themselves and be aware that they don’t have to be perfect. I want them to know that art is also about making mistakes and that often the greatest works are because of mistakes. I think my biggest job is to give them a kind of love for art and to show them or open their eyes for what art is about and what art can do.
Yes, I teach at a pre-school for the art academy so I mostly work with young people between seventeen and their early twenties. It is super interesting and fun and also so inspiring because they are there to learn and they really want to learn. At the same time I can learn from them as well. I think I have a lot I can teach these young people but it is not a one way dialogue. I can come with ideas but in the end it is on their own to find out what they want and how to use my advice. In general, I just want them to be critical, to believe in themselves and be aware that they don’t have to be perfect. I want them to know that art is also about making mistakes and that often the greatest works are because of mistakes. I think my biggest job is to give them a kind of love for art and to show them or open their eyes for what art is about and what art can do.
What is your favorite corner/part/thing about your workplace?
I guess maybe this chair. Not because of the chair as such but I like sitting here, watching the whole studio. Maybe it is also the mess. I think the most important thing about my studio is the mess and all the things I can roll around and move and combine to different constellations. Sometimes I clean up but then a week later it looks the same. This is probably a sign that I need it messy. But maybe my favorite thing about my studio is also my coffee cup. My grandma painted it for me when I was a little kid.
I guess maybe this chair. Not because of the chair as such but I like sitting here, watching the whole studio. Maybe it is also the mess. I think the most important thing about my studio is the mess and all the things I can roll around and move and combine to different constellations. Sometimes I clean up but then a week later it looks the same. This is probably a sign that I need it messy. But maybe my favorite thing about my studio is also my coffee cup. My grandma painted it for me when I was a little kid.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on hand paintings. I did them yesterday. It was a test but I think it turned out okay. I am also working on some wooden works which I want to combine with metal plates. But that is something I don’t know yet whether I will ever use it or not. Right now I am just experimenting with it. Otherwise I am working on the face masks. Some of them will be shown in Copenhagen later on and some of them in Hamburg in May. Maybe they will also be shown in Aarhus at the end of the year.
I am working on hand paintings. I did them yesterday. It was a test but I think it turned out okay. I am also working on some wooden works which I want to combine with metal plates. But that is something I don’t know yet whether I will ever use it or not. Right now I am just experimenting with it. Otherwise I am working on the face masks. Some of them will be shown in Copenhagen later on and some of them in Hamburg in May. Maybe they will also be shown in Aarhus at the end of the year.