Karl Bird

What is your expression?  
There have been times that i have been quite rigid in wanting to categorize myself as a painter. As my work develops i have been asking questions of what painting is? and what painting can be? This has led me to working with photography, printmaking, sculpture, textile, and installation. The list keeps growing, so for now i choose not to put a hard frame around myself. I have a background in graffiti, and i love the urban aesthetic. I quite enjoy the term post-vandalism. 

What inspires you?
I get much of my inspiration from taking long solitary walks. As a teenager i was diagnosed with a genetic back condition, which meant that it became very painful to walk for more than 20 minutes. Since coming to Norway i was fortunate enough to receive an operation which has pretty much cured me of my pain. So, i take immense pleasure in walking for hours in both nature and the city. I find the transition and contrast between these settings to be particularly interesting. This is easy to experience in a place like Bergen where the city is nestled in amongst the wild mountains. I feel there is also something similar in my personal transition, when i moved from the very urban city of Birmingham to Bergen, a city which is surrounded by nature. 

During these walks, my eyes are drawn to surfaces, dirty walls, the colours of lichen and moss, discarded objects, a fallen tree. I enjoy the patinas that history creates and reading the story that places and objects tell. 

I love graffiti art, this is where my roots lie, and my eyes have always been drawn to it. These days however, i am particularly drawn to really bad graffiti art- where a piece might be unfinished or faded beyond recognition. Where faults in the paint cause drips or spatter. Happy mistakes. I think there is honesty to be found when something doesn’t quite go to plan.  

Music is also a strong stimulus for my work, i have been an active DJ and club promoter for many years. I often compare visual experience to having a melody, rhythm, or a waveform. There are many aspects of club life and underground culture which feed into the art that i make. 

 How would you describe your art?  
I see my practice as an exploration. An exploration of place and an exploration of process. I tend to explore in multiple directions at the same time. I like to be able to go back and forth between different projects in my studio because this keeps things fresh and often triggers new directions for my work to go. 

I worked so hard at keeping my plants alive, they all died, (image 5) was a piece which was entirely process driven. This piece was made in the gallery at Salhus Tekstilindustrimuseet during the installation period. Gradually, i would raise the textile from the water over a few days and paint wet on wet, almost as if i was growing the paintings. I enjoy processes which mitigate my control and enable the materials to respond with their own voices. 

Sometimes my work can be a direct response to a specific situation or space. Block Culture (image 3)is an example of this. Last year i discovered a large abandoned warehouse which i found irresistible to explore. I decided to make this into a temporary project space where i worked for a few weeks in close to freezing temperatures. I created a few pieces with elements which i brought with me that could collaborate with the space, and also objects which i found there, which i painted and pieced together in compositions. Block culture was my favourite of these as i felt it captured a memory of that space and became an alternative monument to the place itself. 

I like the idea of a monument to a place. Seemingly insignificant places and spaces can have profound significance for individuals in a multitude of ways. They can mark a whole era in someone’s life, and as with most things, they are temporary. That abandoned building i discovered last year has since been burned down to the ground and no longer exists, which is a prime example. This led me to making In Memory of Paradise (image 2). This was an expanded painting installation which was shown at Bergen Kunsthall as part of the master’s graduation exhibition earlier this year. The piece is in reference to a specific place of significance for me, the old Birmingham Central Library. A beautiful example of post-war brutalist architecture which was built on Paradise place, where skateboarders, goths and emos would gather each weekend during the 90s and early 2000s. For me, this place was where i did much of my coming of age and shaped the person i am today. In 2013 the library was demolished and replaced by a bland commercial complex where skateboarding is strictly prohibited. I think we all have had somewhere like this in our lives. A place where we felt freedom. The piece aims to give a sense of both being constructed, and in ruin. I wanted this work to be a monument to not just mine, but everyone’s lost paradise. 

Why did you end up living where you are?  
After graduating from my Bachelor in Birmingham, i struggled to get a foothold in the art scene there. Finding a studio was difficult, and life after being a student in the UK is particularly challenging unless you are working full time. I did a simple google search of Masters in Art abroad, and Bergen came up as the top result. 

I spoke to a friend who was living in Trondheim at the time about this and he said that he and his girlfriend would be moving to Bergen in a month, and said i should come and live with them. I also have Norwegian heritage, growing up with a mother who was born in Oslo, so this felt like an obvious path for me to take.  

During the move, i lost my entire portfolio due to a corrupted hard drive. This meant starting from scratch to build a new body of work to apply for the masters at KMD. Thankfully i was able to get a studio early on, and funded my life working part time as a chef. After a few failed attempts, i finally got accepted in 2022 and graduated earlier this year. It feels like a real milestone has been reached and i am excited for what’s next in the journey. I have always used my art as a compass, and follow wherever allows me to keep making work. For now i feel well set, having just moved into a studio in Laksevåg, a five minute walk from where i live, so i think i will be staying put. 

What do you like about the artscene and the town? 
To me, it seems Bergen has a thriving art scene. Not just art, but culture in general. For its size, so much happens here! The people of Bergen seem to really value art, and local people are very supportive in showing up to events and openings even in the freezing cold and pouring rain. It makes me feel like Bergen is a land of opportunity. I believe if you have an idea, or a vision, in Bergen you can make it happen. I have experienced this myself, having helped organize or taking part in various events across the city. I think its a beautiful thing and makes Bergen a great place to be a creative. 

 What could be better in the local  artscene?  
I´m not quite sure how to answer this. I think if i would feel that something was missing or could be better, it would be up to me to try and improve it or fill the void. I do not think everything needs to be contained within galleries. I think art can be everywhere, and i think it can be used as a catalyst to activate different spaces in the city. I have already witnessed examples of this within Bergen, and i would like to help contribute with more. 

What are you currently working on?  
I am currently hard at work in my studio developing a body of work including painting sculpture and photography. 

What are your ambitions and plans for the future?  
The most immediate plan is to have a solo show, it feels like a long time since the last time i did something alone, and my work has moved along since then. I like the idea of doing something outside in an interesting space, although i am not against showing in a gallery. I would also be keen to create some new concepts and projects that would bring people together and collaborate. I have had some experience in hosting events, and i really like the DIY platform.  

Who of your colleagues deserves more attention?  
Arild Instanes is a good friend and colleague of mine. We shared a studio, early on when i had first moved to Bergen, and then by chance we shared a studio as classmates on the masters program. He is a fantastic painter who seems to have it in his blood. We both share a similar background in graffiti, which i feel has aligned us to view art through the same lens. If you have not yet seen his work, i would strongly recommend that you check him out.