I found the enchanting sculptures of Lene Kilde whist browsing Instagram. Kilde completed her Master Degree in Product Design in 2012 and was awarded The Norwegian Arts Council three -year work scholarship for young artists the following year. Her work has now been shown in Norway and around the world.
Kilde is a contemporary Norwegian artist who creates sculptures inspired by children and their emotions. She finds that children’s body language is their purest form of communication. This is visualized by showing very few body parts, usually only hands and feet, which then are placed in proportion to each other with the use of metal mesh, appearing to defy gravity, an optical illusion that transports the viewer to a world of partially invisible children.
Kilde uses concrete to sculpt children’s hands and feet, dressing them in fragments of metal mesh clothing that shape the empty space where the children’s bodies and faces are missing. Her intention is to invite the audience to use their own imagination so that they can complete the sculptures and fill in the lines and volume by themselves.
Kilde describes her sculptures of being made of “concrete, wire, and air,”
Kilde draws her inspiration from childhood memories and her own daughter and niece to create her magical sculptures. Each work is unique and perfectly depicts children’s attitudes; from the creative one with a painting bucket and the shy ones holding hands and rolling their toes, to the adventurous on tip toe.
In 2014 Kilde was an artist in residence in Grenada, where she quickly became inspired by Grenada’s underwater sculpture park. On arrival, Kilde totally immersed herself in Grenadian life and culture. She immediately began exploring, experiencing, and researching as much as possible to gain inspiration for a sculpture that would not only be helpful to the reef, but also have a strong connection with Grenada. Kilde’s underwater sculpture is based on the local fable of the Nutmeg Princess, a tale about a beautiful Caribbean princess who once lived in a bottomless lake.
