Doug Mandt Art Blog

Rosemaling is the decorative flower painting of Norway (popular from about 1760-1860). The flowing curvilinear quality of rosemaling seems to have influenced Norwegian artists like Edvard Munch. Rosemaling can be thought of as signifying nature, growth, life and seems in some way related to the world tree of Norse mythology. Rosemaling was used to decorate cabinets and ceilings in homes, creating an interior space that is consumed in a swirling celebration of nature. My work appropriates small aspects of “C” and “S” brush work and amplifies them to an iconic level. Rosemaling motifs are also infused with organic form and/or transformed into mythic beasts and dragons in the style of Viking artifacts. My paintings use a palette specific to Norwegian folk art in general. The Telemark style of rosemaling uses a pictorial devise where the floral design emerges from a central point. The emanation effect in my work echoes this tradition.

Looks like my plans for a sculpture are going to happen with the help of my brother Mike. It's a wall installation with a floor viking prow sculpture. Photos here show prow ruffed out in wood. Eventually prow will be white, to match black and white shapes on the wall; all emanating from corner of the gallery.

With my upcoming show I will use a pictorial device, the emanation of line and form from a selected point of origin. Emanation mostly refers to the unitive mysticism of Plotinus who developed a theological system that combined Platonic and Aristotelian cosmology. His system was simple and beautiful and has since been adopted on some level by all Abrahamic faiths (and probably has its origin in the Vedas). Emanation also fits well into a poetic reading of current scientific cosmology. We all literally, have our origin in a singularity. “Divine mind”- the first emanation from the "one" can be thought of as mathematics, number sense, physical laws, etc. Emanation is a useful tool if one wants to view reality in a positive light. In Norse Emanation , emanation is used to declare Nordic heritage as essentially good and developing out of a shared universal set of archetypes. To celebrate Nordic heritage with emanation is not to say that other cultures could not share this honor. In