On the Process of Kaspar Oppen Samuelsen

Kaspar Oppen Samuelsen’s process is a cycle of assembling, breaking apart and rebuilding. First, he draws an image on a canvas. Then he cuts each shape of the image out, creating an elaborate puzzle. “REMEMBER TO TAKE A PHOTO” — a sign on his studio wall reads; a crucial step for when the image will be reconstructed anew.

Separated from the canvas, each piece becomes its own arbitrary, abstract form. Sorted by colour, the forms are the individually painted. The wet paint causes the canvas to curl, and the fluid pigment to collect in the bottom of the fold. What began as an even coating of paint gains texture and shadow through the random bends of the canvas.

The curled pieces are then ironed out and reassembled on another canvas. This creates an effect reminiscent to woodblock printing; graphic shapes forming a collective image. Each shape is situated next to something or somebody, and the abstract forms suddenly make sense as a composition. In the reassembled image, the streaks of colour caused by the curling of the canvas now read as intentional highlights or accents.

This process imbues Samuelsen’s pieces with a very specific materiality: the layers of canvas and shadows of glue. At first glance, the work might appear to be a traditional painting, but a closer reveals a highly tactile construction, rich in texture and material presence.