Portrait of a Woman at the Piano is an installation with sculpture and sound, but no portrait, no piano and no woman, other than the shadow of the artist through her work. Rolland's large-scale sculptures are passive yet activated by sound, resonating through the 3 channel sound piece 'Passings'.
This way of dealing with absence, the negative and contradictions is characteristic for Rollands work. In her practice there is a constant shifting perspective of what is there and what is not there; history and present, performer and spectator, of acts and counteracts.
Portrait of a Woman at the Piano continues her research of connections between music and visual art, where the music instrument is frequently used as material and motif for interpretation. This new installation is influenced by ideas involving our recent cultural and social history, reflecting on the piano as an outdated symbol for Western wealth and civilisation.
During the work process, Rolland became fascinated by women's central role in the evolution of piano compositions, and how the piano has been interpreted as an 19th century icon of female sexuality. At Lydgalleriet the body is removed and the sculptures become the bodies contemplating on these issues, drawing a reversed line from contemporary culture to a time women's piano skills was an important dowry.
Rolland's sculptures formally translate the shapes of grand pianos from different European manufacturers that have existed since early 19th century. From a collection of fifty shapes, she selected three for their scale, form and names, such as Imperial. The shapes have been reconstructed industrially into prototype sculptures in steel and wood, while the surface has been treated manually to create vibrating textures. Through this alteration from function to form, Rolland's interest in the materiality of sound is combined with her frequent use of cultural recycling and references to art history, drawing parallels between sound, music instrument and abstract sculpture.
The sound of a grand piano resonates through thousands of components made of wood, iron, steel, copper and felt in an architectural form between 150 and 300 cm, that can carry the weight of more than 500 kg. The sound depends on human touch. Today the piano is formed into a virtual file in an increasing digital music production, something that alters the whole concept of instrument, performer and their relation.
For Portrait of a Woman at the Piano Rolland has collaborated with sound designer Jun Mizumachi, and the original acoustic piano was recorded by Sebastian Rolland. A dramatic sequence that makes use of all 88 piano keys starts off the sound in Passings. The following composition happens in the interaction between tones with such as C-#C-D-#D, arranged by a non-hierarchic approach to tonal arrangements.
Curated by Julie Lillelien Porter and supported by The Norwegian Visual Artists Fund, Bergersenstiftelsen, Fegerstens stiftelse and FFUK.