Artists

Anna Bjerger

Anna Bjerger’s paintings draw from an extensive archive of images she has collected from sources such as out-of-print books, travel brochures and vintage magazines and catalogues. In this ongoing endeavour, she is immersed in ‘rescuing images from history’. Seemingly mundane photographic moments are elevated through her careful selection and re-presentation, while the luminosity of the oil applied to the smooth aluminium surfaces upon which she paints delights the eye. The anonymity of these incongruent and haunting images—landscapes, figures, animals—is freeing, wherein the subject matter of her work becomes solely centred on painting as an emotive act, capturing and/or enhancing a subtle mood or sensuality. Critic Francesca Astesani is prompted to ask when considering the sensitivities inherent in Bjerger’s paintings, ‘How can an image be given the coolness of water, the softness of wool, the silence of a starry night?’.