The Life-boats small scale models made by Marit Benthe Norheim are in themselves what I would call Venus Figurines. These were inspiration for a new generation of figurines (V figurines) made by children, youngsters and adults at Kirsten Kjærs Museum, Kulturmødet Mors, Haderslev Harbour and schools around Denmark.
Children, youngsters and adults made figurines guided with various task based methods:
- Write a blue book (biography of a woman you would like to portray and have that as a starting point for visualizing her).
- Draft figures in short intervals triggering your intuition seeing and capturing various body postures a life model moves through, decide afterwards if you want to take inspiration from the postures or invent your own. You can try embodying the posture before creating your figurine.
- Think of a woman you know or want to know and let this be your guide.
The figurines are made in paper clay because of it's a similar aesthetics to the concrete boats, and being easy to use - air drying and fairly light to transport.
Illustrations 1,2
Life-boats models by Marit Benthe Norheim
Photo: Julie Schmidt Andreasen
Illustrations 3
V Figurines by dancers
Photo: Julie Damkjær
Illustration 4
V Figurines by children
Photo: Julie Schmidt Andreasen
Illustrain 5
Life-boat by Marit Benthe Norheim
Photo: Julie Schmidt Andreasen
Illustration 6, 7
V Figurines by Julie Schmidt Andreasen
Photo: Tor-Erik Ulriksborg
Dancers: Birgitte Lundtoft & Meleat Fredriksson
Illustration 8
Collage by Julie Schmidt Andreasen
Illustration 9
Photos: Lassina Badolo
