Photo by Jannik Abel
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Tanja Thorjussen (b. 1970) is an artist living in Oslo (NO). Her artistic medium spans between drawing, sculpture, performance and art in public space. Through speculative research her artistic practice revolves around how ancient art and nature can inform the present.
Tanja Thorjussen and Thale Blix Fastvold in the artist duo LOCUS, is currently showing at the Helsinki Biennial with the works Zostera Marina`s song of increase created to celebrate and increase Zostera Marina (common eelgrass) in the Baltic Sea. Previously, at the exhibition "Eden and Everything After" at Museum of Archaeology – UiS in Stavanger (NO) in 2023 Thorjussen created artworks about historical objects from the collection, speculating on its meaning through artistic methodology such as drawing and intuitive listening. Thorjussen has a BFA from KHIB in Bergen (NO) and Parsons The New School in New York (USA) and is educated as a curator from Telemark University. She is the initiator of LOCUS since 2006 and PAO - Performance Art Oslo since 2012-2021 and from 2019 she is elected chair of Tegnerforbundet (The Norwegian Drawing Center) |
Zostera Marinas´s Song of increase by LOCUS / Thale Blix Fastvold and Tanja Thorjussen at the Helsinki Biennial June 8th - September 21 2025.
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Artwork locations: HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Vallisaari Island
Zostera Marina’s song of increase is dedicated to a species of seagrass native to the Baltic Sea: common eelgrass (Zostera marina). This foundational species provides shelter to many other species, reduces erosion by binding sediments to the sea floor, and improves water quality by absorbing nutrients. Sadly, marine eutrophication has seen a decline in common eelgrass meadows. In the low-saline habitat of the Baltic Sea, common eelgrass does not spread by flowering, but mostly by sprouting from its rhizome or from stems that break away and carry fertile seeds to new areas. In this project commissioned by Helsinki Biennial, the artists envisage a hopeful, speculative, utopian future for common eelgrass, which they imagine as blooming and thriving in the Baltic Sea. The first part of their work consists of glass flowers, sound elements and a performance staged on Vallisaari’s freshwater pond. The second part on display in HAM’s north gallery consists of a bed of aquatic plants in an aquarium, glass blooms and a soundscape. With their project, LOCUS propose an alternative, optimistic narrative in which a healed Baltic Sea is an achieved reality. The work was created in collaboration with the artwork partner, the John Nurminen Foundation. More info here |
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NORWEGIAN SITUATIONS 08/15 - 09/20, 2024 Hosted at NADA East Broadway 311 E. Broadway, 2nd floor NYC 10002, USA
Artists: Ryan Cullen, Naomi Fisher, Elizabeth Hart, Henrik Olai Kaarstein, Kornelia Remø Klokk, Kim Laybourn, Ivan Lee, Kobie Nel, Ann Cathrin November Høibo, Louis Schou-Hansen, Tanja Thorjussen, and Bobby Yu Shuk Pui. Curated by Jackie Klempay "Throughout the exhibition, themes of transformation, ephemerality, and adaptation recur. Kim Laybourn and Tanja Thorjussen consider change from an ecological perspective in their works, using symbols of flora and fauna to examine the complicated relationship between humanity and nature" More info here |
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MUNDIS IMAGINALIS - UGLER I MOSEN OG FRI SOM FUGLEN
Kleppelunden skole is a primary school outside Stavanger in Klepp municipality where I was commissioned to make this site specific artwork. The project is inspired by a small bronze object found near Klepp which is now housed at the Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger (NO) The project reflect on our relationship to birds from the past into the future and the other birds portrayed is all local birds to the area. Klepp, Jæren and the south west coast of Norway is a vital habitat for local birds, and an important stop for thousands of birds migration on their journeys in spring and fall. The birds are painted with acrylic paint on valchromat and are attached directly onto the cement wall. Curator Daniela Arriado MORE INFO HERE |
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Eden and everything after museum of archaeology, UiS Stavanger, Norway. January 2023 - November 2023
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Since 2021 I worked on artistic research and developing art for the exhibition Eden and Everything After at Museum of Archaeology, UiS Stavanger, Norway.
In the exhibition I created new drawings, a video and objects in dialogue with the collection of the museum such as a seal, a bird, a snake and other relics from the stone age to the viking age period. The exhibition was on view from January 2023 - November 2023. More info here. |
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NEW SILKSCREEN PRINT In conjunction with the exhibition Eden and Everything After where I created the triptych Naga and The Huluppi tree I have created this silkscreen print in one color black print, handcolored and with gold leaf. For sale through stripe: HERE Title: Naga and The Huluppi Tree - Nammu Size: 57 x 76 cm Edition: 45 Medium: Silkscreen print (handprinted at Fellesverkstedet in Oslo by me) |
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2022 projects and exhibitions:
In 2022 I have been working on artistic research and developing art for the exhibition Eden and Everything After at Museum of Archaeology, UiS, Stavanger, NO. The picture is from a residency at the museum in november 2021 where I am studying the objects through drawing and watercolor. LOCUS Performances:
"Čázevulošnieida / Undervannsjenta"
LOCUS public art project: Locus Bee Sanctuary - Hilmas Hive Oslo, NO. From May 2022 
"Thalassa of the seven seas" watercolor and ink on Arches paper, 2020
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2021 projects and exhibitions:
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2020 projects and exhibitions:
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2019:
Summer collaborative public art projects with LOCUS:
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