MARE ANIMAE - the inner sea.

Travelling exhibition 1993 - 1998.

I have chosen exhibition places near the sea, were there is a stream of people, who are 'close to the sea'. The thought of this provides me with symbolism and fantasy, freedom and richness when I am creating. Most of the places for the exhibitions are not ordinary art galleries but environments that are in line with the themes in my production.

My pictures are palpable, dramatic and give a sense of flying close to the surface of the sea. You can see directly into the depths, or yourself reflected.
A large series of paintings of the same format evokes the notion of a filmic sequence.

There is tenseness between the paintings physical reality and the conception in the picture. You can find recognition in the artwork between finding an inner sense and dear facing your own fears.
Not to draw borders between imagination and preconception, I want to mix the high with the low.
My painting technique makes me remember that my unconscious memory exists all the time, and through what I am doing, I create a distance to understand certain incidents in my past.

The collection of 47 paintings have been shown in maritime museums, art museums and galleries around the Baltic Sea 1993-98; Vaal Gallery Tallinn, The Latvian museum of Foreign Art Riga, The Polish Maritime museum Gdansk, The Maritime museum Stockholm, Grå Gallery Stockholm, The Maritime museum Rostock, Swedish Seaman's Church Hamburg, The Maritime museum Gothenburg, The Lake Vänern museum Lidköping, The Science and Technology museum Malmö, The Naval museum Karlskrona, The Naval museum Copenhagen.

My exhibitions were always different. New paintings were added all the time. Sometimes they were lightly hung, other times tightly grouped, sometimes integrated with special interiors. The majority of the exhibition halls were large, 350-700 m2. In Karlskrona, Sweden, I wrote descriptions between the paintings. In Gothenburg, Sweden, there was a lighthouse in the room. In Rostock, Germany, an exhibition case stood in the middle of the floor with texts and signal flags which complemented the paintings, 'I don't give up my ship', and 'I welcome you'. I wanted to indicate the importance of water on earth, and often this theme was my point in the speeches I gave at the openings.

Almost all of my paintings were of the same format, 150 x 130 cm. This is a human format that is easy to handle when the exhibition is hung, and also a good format for large halls and rooms. Some were double size, like panoramic landscapes sized 260 x 150 cm.

The background to MARE ANIMAE was that I painted large, I wanted to travel out on the vast sea, to other towns and to meet many people. I wanted to have an adventure with my husband, who was the producer of the entire project.

Stockholm in December 2000

Ann Frössén

A catalogue of 38 pages was produced when the project was completed, containing pictures and texts by amongst others: Kristian Petri, Rolf Edberg, Karl Erik Bergsten och Sigfrid N. Wessberg, in collaboration with Naval museum Karlskrona and Naval museum Copenhagen.

The project was made possible with support from; Hans Lepp, The Swedish Embassy in Tallinn, Eha Kommissarov, The Estonian Modern Art museum, Reet Varblane, art historian Tallinn, Peter Dahl, artist, Alexander Taube, Stockholm, Eva Emnéus, The Swedish Embassy Riga, Gundega Cebere, The Ministry of Culture Riga, Vita Ozolina, curator, The Latvian Museum of Foreign Art Riga, Beata Jaworowska, Baltic Cultural Centre Gdansk, Jerzy Litwin, The Polish Maritime museum, Mika Larsson, The Swedish Embassy, Warsaw, Peter Danker-Carstensen, The Maritime museum, Rostock, MacMeckarna Stockholm, Clas Günther, The Maritime museum, Stockholm, Saimi Kling, Grå Gallery, Stockholm, Bo Sylwan, The Academy of Fine Arts Stockholm, Olle Sjöholm, Hamburg.

Economic support from; The Swedish institute, The Nordic Council Tallinn, The Swedish Embassy Riga, Baltic Express Line AB, Polferries, Deutsche Fährgesellschaft Ostsee mbH Rostock, Föreningssparbanken Stockholm.